For ten years Kate, Michael and Emma (14, 12 & 11 years old) have lived in 12 orphanages after their parents mysteriously disappeared as a means of protecting their children from forces of menacing magic.   While exploring the cellar of the 12th orphanage the three siblings discover an old green book that transports them to a recent past, setting in motion a time travel quest to find family and break an evil enchantment in an extraordinary world of prophecies, magical creatures, hidden treasures and an ancient evil. Readers 8 to 12 years of age will eagerly read THE EMERALD ATLAS, a fast-paced, hair-raising and humorous first book in the Books of Beginning trilogy.