Bernie Bridges, the egotistical planner and schemer for a group of fourth-graders at The Rotten School, is determined to outsmart his rival in a pie-eating contest.

In an alternate 1875 England, seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny, aided by the boy he loves, must discover who is sabotaging the towers that control the flow of time and stop him or her before it is too late. An alternate 1875 England. In Enfield, the clock tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. Clock mechanic Danny can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time. He discovers that his new apprentice is the tower's clock...

"When Lewis Barnavelt, an orphan. comes to stay with his uncle Jonathan, he expects to meet an ordinary person. But he is wrong. Uncle Jonathan and his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmermann, are both witches! Lewis is thrilled. At first, watching magic is enough. Then Lewis experiments with magic himself and unknowingly resurrects the former owner of the house: a woman named Serenna Izard. It seems that Serenna and her husband built a timepiece into...