He meets two other young students and their familiars: Skylar the blue-jay (whose power is casting illusions) and Gilbert the tree frog (who can see visions in puddles, albeit unreliably). That kicks off Aldwyn's entrance into the world of magic. Despite all the amazing options presented to him - chameleon crabs that camouflage themselves and their wizards, riding lizards that shrink the human down to riding size, healing ravens - Jack takes an immediate liking to Aldwyn, presuming him to be a telekinetic bicolor cat from Maidenmere. Enter Jack, a young wizard shopping for a familiar. But when he finds himself hunted by Grimslade, a persistent bounty hunter hired by the fishmonger, he takes refuge in a wizard's shop, hiding in a cage among a bunch of magical animals. First and foremost is Aldwyn, a scrappy alley cat in the town of Bridgetower who survives by his wits, stealing fish and scraps of food where he can get them. In this series for middle-grade readers, the animals are the focus and the humans become the supporting characters. The Familiars, by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, takes that idea and tweaks it a little. Depending on the particular mythology, some familiars help with casting magic, or may have some powers of their own, but they're usually there to assist the humans in some way, who tend to be the major characters in the stories. In the Harry Potter series, all of the kids have pets which seem a little bit like familiars, though they're never referred to as such. Cats are often associated with witches, and ravens are also a pretty common familiar.

Only they can save each other.Familiars are animals, companions to wizards and witches that assist them with magic.

Time is running out, and both their lives are at stake. But is there more to Alice than meets the eye? Soon the two women's lives will become inextricably bound together as the legendary trial at Lancaster approaches, and Fleetwood's stomach continues to grow. As Alice is drawn into the witchcraft accusations that are sweeping the north-west, Fleetwood risks everything by trying to help her. Alice promises to help her give birth to a healthy baby, and to prove the physician wrong. Then she crosses paths by chance with Alice Gray, a young midwife. When Fleetwood finds a letter she isn't supposed to read from the doctor who delivered her third stillbirth, she is dealt the crushing blow that she will not survive another pregnancy. But as the mistress at Gawthorpe Hall, she still has no living child, and her husband Richard is anxious for an heir.

Fleetwood Shuttleworth is 17 years old, married, and pregnant for the fourth time. Shortlisted for the British Book Awards Debut Book of the Year 2020 In a time of suspicion and accusation, to be a woman is the greatest risk of all.

The familiars book