The Watch and the Red Door

Every word left unsaid is waiting for you.

Behind fifty-three ticking clocks in a crowded little watch shop in Duluth, Minnesota, there is a small red door. Twelve-year-old Nora Varga and her thirteen-year-old brother Felix are about to find out where it goes.

Their beloved grandfather, Nagypapa, has left them two curious gifts: a little green watch that will not tick, and a brass key with no lock. Soon the watch is showing Nora secret numbers between people, and Felix can hear tiny glowing creatures called Unsaidlings, made of every thank-you, sorry and I-love-you that nobody ever said.

Beyond the door lies Lanternlake, a hidden world beneath Lake Superior where every real conversation lights a floating lantern in the sky. Nagypapa has left twenty-one messages for them to find. But a charming man with a silver pin wants the lanterns too, and he will do anything to own them.

Inside this magical fantasy adventure:

• A brother and sister who tell the story in turns, each with a voice, a gift and a secret of their own
• A secret world of lanterns, a heron made of light and a truck that drives across the Great Lakes at midnight
• Adorable glowing creatures in feeling colours: gold for thank you, blue for sorry, pink for I love you
• Seven Listener's Rules that quietly teach kids how to listen, speak up and say it while it is warm
• Laugh-out-loud humour, real heart, and a cliffhanger ending that leads straight into Book 2
• Nineteen ink-and-watercolour chapter illustrations

A book to read alone, read aloud, or share across the generations. A cosy, big-hearted fantasy about grief, family and the magic of saying what matters, for anyone who loves portal fantasy, magical creatures, found family and stories that feel like home.

The Listeners of Lanternlake trilogy: 1. The Watch and the Red Door · 2. The Tower of Nine Lights · 3. The Morning of Many Voices