"Who wants to join the Vanishing Homework Club?" Mrs. Melody announced, her voice echoing a little too loudly in the quiet classroom. Ten-year-old Bell, with her bright, curious eyes and a perpetually rumpled backpack, looked up from her doodle of a flying unicorn. She exchanged a bewildered glance with her best friend, Pye, who was busy trying to balance a pencil on his nose. Vanishing Homework...
“Another Level 7 victory for Lily X!” the announcement blared, making Eddy wince. He hated the booming voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. All around him, other kids, even his sister Anna, were glued to their personal screens, their faces glowing with the bluish light of the latest "Mind-Bend" game. Eddy sighed. The Land of Screens. That's what they called their...
“Eddy, look out!” shouted Anna, but it was too late.
With a loud crack , Eddy’s skateboard hit the edge of the curb and flipped beneath him. He tumbled onto the sidewalk with a thud, scraping his elbow and sending his favorite green skateboard skidding into the gutter.
The summer had barely begun, and already things weren’t going as planned.
“Did you hear that?” Anna whispered, her flashlight shaking so hard it looked like it was trying to do the cha-cha.
Eddy squinted up the attic stairs. “Hear what?”
A long, slow creak echoed from above—like someone stepping on a giant peanut.
"Did you see it?!" Eddy whispered, his eyes wide as moons. Anna tugged her scarf tighter around her neck and squinted at the empty lantern post in front of the village bakery. "Nope. Not again." Every night, just after midnight, the glowing dragon lantern lit up the sleepy village of Tanjung Tokong like a firefly wrapped in silk. But every morning, it vanished without a trace. And no one could...
"Zap!" Eddy jumped back as a spark flew from the tangled mess of wires in his hands. "That was close," he said, brushing soot off his overalls. His workshop—a cozy shed behind his house filled with blinking gadgets and humming machines—was buzzing with excitement.
"I think it's working!" said Anna, peering over his shoulder. She was Eddy’s best friend and always helped him test his wildest ideas.
On the edge of a sparkling turquoise sea, where the horizon kissed the sky, lay Whale Island, a place where the waves whispered secrets to anyone who listened closely. The island was shaped like a giant humpback whale, its rocky cliffs curving like a tail and its sandy beaches gleaming like a smile. Here, ten-year-old Lily and her younger brother, Eddy, spent their summer days exploring, their...
Eddy, a lively nine-year-old with wild brown curls and a laugh that could cheer up a rainy day, was bursting with excitement for the annual school talent show. He dreamed of winning with his tap-dancing routine, his shiny shoes clicking like a metronome. But there was a hitch: Eddy’s nerves always got the better of him, making his feet tangle like jump ropes.
In the smoggy city of Ironclad, where towering steel walls blocked out the sun and drones buzzed like angry bees, eleven-year-old Nana lived in a cramped attic with her little brother, Eddy. The city was ruled by the High Council, a group of stern grown-ups who demanded everyone follow their rules. No laughing too loud, no running in the streets, and definitely no dreaming of a world beyond the...
