Once Upon Another Time, page 20
Did you really not read that Half Upon a Time Story Book I told you about when you first appeared? the cosmic knowledge asked. No wonder you’ve been so confused!
You say a lot of useless things. How am I supposed to know which ones will later be important? Jin shouted back in his mind, then sighed deeply and turned back to the invisible Jill. “Okay. Back up. Start from the beginning. Who’s this Jack guy, anyway?”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Whoa, if only there were Story Books available for us to read about Jack’s adventures! What a world that would be—wait a second… there ARE! How lucky can we even be?!
(Basically, this would be a great time to read the original Half Upon a Time series if you’d like some background on what Jill was just talking about. If not, though, don’t worry, as you’ll get everything you need to know in the next book!)
For all those readers who enjoyed the first series and are back for more, I want to thank you for putting your faith in me for three more books. You shouldn’t have, though. Just wait till you see what happened to Jack, May, and everyone. *sad trombone*
And to all my new readers, welcome! I apologize for trying my best to make you cry.
All those tears aren’t just my fault, though. The following people are instrumental in causing all the feels you might feel throughout this series:
First, I have to thank my agent, Michael Bourret, and my two editors at Aladdin, Kara Sargent and Anna Parsons, for agreeing to all this madness, and shaping it into the book you have in your hands today. I also want to thank Valerie Garfield, my publisher at Aladdin; Nadia Almahdi in marketing; Cassie Malmo and Nicole Russo in publicity; Laura DiSiena, the designer of the book; production editors Elizabeth Mims and Olivia Ritchie; Michelle Leo and the education/library team; Stephanie Voros and the subrights group; Christina Pecorale and the whole sales team; and so much love to Vivienne To, the greatest cover artist ever, and pretty much solely responsible for anyone picking these books up.
See you in Book 2, and again, I’m so, so sorry about what’s to come!
More from this Series
Tall Tales
Book 2
More from the Author
The Chosen One
The Timeless One
The Future King
The Last Dragon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Author photograph by Maarten De Boer
James Riley is the New York Times bestselling author of the Story Thieves, Half Upon a Time, and Revenge of Magic series. Contrary to what his Story Thieves biography suggests, this really is James. Note to future authors: if you pretend you’re not real, you’ll get lots of questions.
Aladdin
Simon & Schuster, New York
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/James-Riley
ALSO BY JAMES RILEY
The Half Upon a Time series
Half Upon a Time
Twice Upon a Time
Once Upon the End
The Story Thieves series
Story Thieves
The Stolen Chapters
Secret Origins
Pick the Plot
Worlds Apart
The Revenge of Magic series
The Revenge of Magic
The Last Dragon
The Future King
The Timeless One
The Chosen One
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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www.SimonandSchuster.com
First Aladdin hardcover edition April 2022
Text copyright © 2022 by James Riley
Jacket illustration copyright © 2022 by Vivienne To
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
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Jacket and book designed by Laura Lyn DiSiena
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Riley, James, 1977- author.
Title: Once upon another time / by James Riley.
Description: First Aladdin hardcover edition. | New York : Aladdin, 2022. | Series: Once upon another time ; 1 | Audience: Ages 8 to 12. | Summary: Lena has a problem: she is a twelve-year-old giant child, but she is still only the size of a human. Rejected by the giant king, she and her enormous talking cat, Rufus, go down to the human world seeking some magic that will restore her to her rightful status. Jin is a twelve-year-old genie, not yet allowed his full powers, and at the moment tied—for two more wishes—to the Golden King, an annoying, nasty tyrant who has sent him on a quest. When these two children meet, all the kingdoms may be changed forever.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021026232 (print) | LCCN 2021026233 (ebook) | ISBN 9781534425873 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534425897 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Giants—Juvenile fiction. | Jinn—Juvenile fiction. | Magic—Juvenile fiction. | Cats—Juvenile fiction. | Fairy tales. | Quests (Expeditions)—Juvenile fiction. | Adventure stories. | CYAC: Giants—Fiction. | Genies—Fiction. | Magic—Fiction. | Cats—Fiction. | Fairy tales. | Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. | LCGFT: Fairy tales. | Action and adventure fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.R55 On 2022 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.R55 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021026232
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021026233
James Riley, Once Upon Another Time
