The Fall (Seventh Tower #1)
Tal, a Chosen of the Orange Order, is having the worst luck lately. Just  when he is getting ready for the Day of Ascension--a day when all the  13-year-old Chosen from the Castle of Seven Towers enter the spirit world of  Aenir--his father disappears with the family's only primary Sunstone, which Tal  needs for the ascension. Without it, he cannot enter Aenir and bind himself to a  Shadowspirit--a kind of guardian being that serves as a friend and protector to  the person it is bound to. And without a Shadowspirit, Tal will lose both his  Chosen status and any hope of finding a cure for his mother's mysterious wasting  illness, a cure that can only come from Aenir. Tal tries to beg, borrow, and  even steal a Sunstone. But his attempts fail, and in his final act of thievery,  Tal is thrown off the Castle of Seven Towers by a powerful Shadowspirit Keeper  and into an adventure beyond his imagining.Australian fantasy author Garth Nix (well known for his novelsSabrielandShade's Children, both ALA list  picks) has joined with Lucasfilm to launch a six-book fantasy series about Tal's  world, of whichThe Fallis the first installment. Packed with excitement  and wonderfully weird creatures like the living sea of Selski and the hungry,  one-horned Merwin, Nix's latest tale will enchant readers. Containing elements  ofThe Golden Compassand  the Harry Potter books,The Seventh Toweris an epic fantasy not  to be missed. (Ages 11 to 14)--Jennifer Hubert