Here’s what kids think of the Empty World Saga:

When her grandmother dies, 13-year-old Christy inherits an old family secret: the pond behind her house is, in fact, a portaAl to another world. What’s more, she learns that her grandfather went through the portal when he mysteriously “disappeared” nine years ago. Christy tries to respect her grandmother’s final wishes and not go exploring, but when classmate Rob falls into the pond, she has to act.

Since no one would believe her if she told them the truth about the pond, Christy arranges her own rescue party. In order to rescue Rob, she’ll have to brave a bizarre alien landscape, evade hostile creatures, and protect Danny, the boy from next door who followed her through the portal.

Meanwhile on Earth, the grown-ups launch a frantic search, and they’re willing to drain the pond to find out what happened. Will Christy be able to find her grandfather, rescue Rob, and return safely to Earth before she becomes a permanent resident of the Empty World?

Christy’s parents forbid her from returning through the portal, but her grandfather is still stranded in the Empty World. When Danny and Brad accidentally take a trip into the portal, Christy finds the excuse she needs to disobey her parents and go after them. Unfortunately for Christy, she’s stuck with Cory for a traveling companion.

Thus begins another journey through the Empty World, looking for the people they’ve lost, and for a way back home. Along the way, they’ll have to deal with the two intelligent species native to that alien world, and unravel the workings of the ancients’ portals.

Can Christy get them all safely home, or will her feud with Cory result in all of them being lost for good?

With the ever-faithful Trevor in tow, Christy defies her mother’s wishes and ventures back to the Empty World. Her father and Detective Lockhart have been missing for months, and she’s determined to bring them home safely. But trouble-maker Cory has his own reasons for wanting to go back, and he bullies Christy and Trevor into taking him along.

The search takes them to a mysterious underground city, abandoned by an ancient race. Even if they find Mr. Walker and Detective Lockhart, will they be able to find their way back out again? And what of the secretive figure who seems to be following them? The city holds all the answers they need … if they can find them.

Cory delves into the Empty World all on his own with just a computer-generated guardian for an ally. He knows that if he’s ever going to walk again, he needs to unlock the forgotten secrets of medical technology advanced enough to heal him.

Meanwhile, the search party looking for Cory has troubles of its own. Lost in an underground city, Christy and the others have to keep one step ahead of the Ancients who are hunting them as they try to track down Cory. But is the guardian who controls those Ancients the same one helping Cory?

Sent back to Earth, Christy bides her time plotting to go back to the Empty World. She has the means; she just needs to round up as many friends as she can and convince them to go with her. All is not right in the Empty World, and Doug and Mike may not be able to defend the pyramid by themselves.

When the Ancients manage to steal the crystal protecting the massive power source contained inside the pyramid, it’s a race against time. Christy and her friends must track down and restore the crystal, or the released black hole won’t just destroy the Empty World…the whole universe is in danger!