In a world of magic, can science save the day?
- CBCA Notables Book – Younger Readers
- 2021 Shortlisted for WA Premier’s Book Awards
- 2022 Shortlisted for WA Young Readers Book Awards
Co-created by Denis Knight and Cristy Burne
Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows ISBN: 9780734420206 (April 2021)
Wednesday Weeks and the Crown of Destiny ISBN: 9780734420213 (September 2021)
Wednesday Weeks and the Dungeon of Fire ISBN: 9780734420237 (August 2022)
Hachette Australia is thrilled to announce the acquisition of Wednesday Weeks, a funny (truly, actually funny), pacy fantasy adventure series that combines real-life science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with classic fantasy elements by authors Denis Knight and Cristy Burne.
Launching in 2021, the first book Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows features smart, brave powerhouse protagonist Wednesday Weeks, her best friend Alfie, a wisecracking skull, a power-hungry goblin king, mostly-good fairies, hot pink slugs and a race against time. What’s not to love?
Wednesday Weeks experiments and videos
About the books
In a world of magic, can science save the day?
Wednesday Weeks never wanted to be a sorcerer’s apprentice. She’d rather study science than magic. But when her cloak-wearing, staff-wielding grandpa is captured by a power-hungry goblin king, Wednesday must find a way to embrace her magical heritage and rescue him from the dreaded Tower of Shadows.
Luckily, she’s not alone. Her best friend Alfie is a prime-number fan and robotics expert who’s all-in on Wednesday’s epic plan involving parallel universes, swords of power, and a wise-cracking talking skull.
But it’s going to take more than science, magic, and the world’s cutest robot to take down this bad guy. Because the goblin king is playing for the ultimate prize—and Wednesday and Alfie just walked into his trap…
Reviews
‘Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows is full of peculiar creatures and charismatic adversaries in strange realms, and yes, magic! … This is a science book for budding fantasy fans and a fantasy book for young science wizzes but ultimately the good humour, relatable characters and colourful plot makes it a fun read for everyone.’
– Lee Constable, TV & Online Presenter
‘This is another great book that celebrates friendship. It celebrates difference and allows kids to see themselves in Alfie and Wednesday – in a variety of ways that celebrates what makes us different and special and shows that it is wonderful when it is our interests, rather than physical similarities, that unite us and bring us together…a story that uses tropes and themes common in fantasy, but takes a wonderfully new and inventive stance on the fantasy novel. A wonderful start to a new series!’
– Ashleigh Meikle, Book Blogger
‘The book is a rip-roaring romp through various magical realms where Wednesday and Alfie must keep their wits about them and use science to save the day. Better still, this exciting adventure is the first of a series so there is lots to look forward to.’
– Jan Nicholls, past-CBCA WA President
‘Wednesday Weeks is the perfect mash-up of science and magic and I am beyond excited to be publishing this dynamite series. Rarely has a series so perfectly matched with my sense of humour and my desire to publish smart, funny, not-always-perfect female protagonists.’
– Hachette Australia Head of Children’s and YA Jeanmarie Morosin
‘Wednesday Weeks and the Crown of Destiny is as smart and entertaining as its predecessor, playfully blending humour, fantasy and adventure with the practical application of science, maths and logic. The authors’ parodying of traditional fantasy conventions is a hoot, giving rise to such gems as ‘The Realm of Unfriendly Cats’.’
Teaching notes
Teaching notes and classroom activity ideas
Wednesday Weeks experiments and videos
Buy Wednesday Weeks
Paperbird Childrens Bookshop (Fremantle, WA)
Beaufort St Books (Mt Lawley, WA)
Booktopia (Australia/NZ)
Dymocks
Readings
Angus & Robertson
Boffins Books (Australia only)
Buy a signed and personalised copy
Order a copy from Crow Books or Paper Bird and ask their friendly staff about arranging for me to personally sign and dedicate your copy to that special person.
Media resources
Media release
Review by @coffeebooksandmagic
“Apparently, other people’s grandpas bring them sweets and read them stories. Mine drags me through the Nine Realms of space and time because a sword told him I’m destined to save the universe. Go figure, right?”
Wednesday Weeks is just trying to pass robotics without accidentally randomly setting things on fire, when her weird magic grandpa shows up, makes her jump through a black void, and sucks her and her brainy best mate Alfie into a wild adventure involving waist-deep slugs, a wise-cracking skull, a faery called Captain Schnooky, a hungry kraken made of laundry, and a good dose of magic mixed with science.
This book is a non-stop middle grade fantasy joyride from start to finish. It’s like Percy Jackson meets Indiana Jones but with STEM. It’s like a kid’s coding app and an escape room had a baby and that baby was a book.
Wednesday and Alfie solve their problems along the way with maths, coding, robotics, and even kindness, all in the quest to save Wednesday’s enigmatic grandpa.
The first person narrative voice of Year 6er Wednesday is zippy, fun and irreverent, and a great sense of wry humour pervades the storytelling. Madcap, imaginative and amusing situations abound, and the friendships carry just the right amount of depth for this type and level of story.
This is a book that is truly aimed at its target audience – i.e. 8-12 year olds – and I am so here for that. It doesn’t try to be sophisticated or straddle some kind of “for kids but kind of also for adults” middle ground. It is unapologetically a children’s novel and having a 10 year old myself, I found it really refreshing to read about kids this age acting like kids this age, in a way kids this age will enjoy.
Here finally we have a kids fantasy that is age appropriate, Australian based, incorporates STEM concepts, has a female main character with an Indian boy bestie… oh and Bruce the talking skull, of course! I think this is a really welcome addition to the middle grade landscape and I think the target audience will devour it. Luckily it’s a series, so plenty more wild science-magicy fun to come!
Cristy Burne - Science, Creativity, Adventure 