2023 Readers' Favorite Silver Medal Winner:  "Readers' Favorite is proud to announce that A Leap into Darkness by Ray Petrolino won the Silver Medal in the Children - Preteen category."

Now a Wake County, NC Public Libraries Collection selection!

Readers' Favorite 5-star review:  "Ray Petrolino’s middle-grade novel, A Leap into Darkness, is an epic fantasy that will capture the hearts and imaginations of both young readers and the young at heart."

Magic stirs and a little dog speaks: the kingdom will fall. But will humans listen?

Jake is a fluffy little dog who just happens to be one of the Sculptor's "wise
ones" . . . but nobody's told him. He's certain he's ordinary, and he knows he doesn't deserve living in a rags to riches fairy tale where he’s been rescued from his hardscrabble life by the King of Gorseland and pampered and loved by his two royal children, Janice and James.

But the good life is threatened with the arrival of the sorcerer, Beezeldorn, and his raven. Beezeldorn is a seeming charlatan: a crowd-pleaser with his sleight-of-hand and cheap spectacle. But his power from dark magic runs deep, on display in town when he heals a leper.

The queen senses the danger and pays for her instincts with her life.

Jake knows something is wrong, but what can he do? Beezeldorn is always one step ahead, moving into the castle, earning the king’s confidence, and befriending James. Even Janice is drawn to him.

Now it's up to Jake to protect his family . . . before it's too late . . . for the king . . . and his kingdom.

Perfect for fans of C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia and S.D. Smith's The Green Ember.