The Divide and Back to the Divide (two volumes) Signed first editions

Frome: The Chicken House, 2003 & 2004. First editions, 2003 & 2004. Signed by the author to the title page. Hardbacks. 320pp and 384pp. No dust jackets (as issued) due to intriguing design using folding boards to create a sort of built-in case for the text block. Felix is not your ordinary hero. Though brave and intelligent, Felix is suffering from a life-threatening illness. His parents take him on holiday to Costa Rica, where they visit the Continental Divide, a place where the waters that run down to the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans separate. At this spot Felix faints and when he opens his eyes, he discovers he's arrived in an amazing back-to-front world, where magic and mythical creatures are real and humans are legend. Luckily he's befriended by Ironclaw, a fearsome creature, who takes him under his wing and, together with Betony, a spirited tangle-girl, they set out to find a cure for Felix and the way back home. After his amazing adventures in The Divide, Felix is once again livimg quietly with his parents in the real world - but not for long - Snakeweed is on the loose! The villainous japegrin, who followed Felix home, has failed to set up his devious spell-potions business. Now he wants to go back across the Divide - and he's come for the enchanted formula hidden in Felix's notebook. Snakeweed's visit brings disaster when he turns Felix's parents to stone. Worse, the spell seems to be spreading like a sinister magical virus. To find the countercharm, Felix must return to the back-to-front world he discovered the previous summer. But when he gets there, he discovers it horribly changes and his extraordinary friends in a terrible fix. Can he save BOTH worlds in time? Was he really cured before? Can he outwit the dreadful Snakeweed again? Both books in near fine condition and unread. <br />