Book excerpt: "It is called the Elemental Control. And it is failing. The elements are mere ghosts of their full forces. And, as it fails Delphi, I start to die. I need you to save me, the future of your home, and a very powerful boy." Earth, fire, water, wind. Four elements that make up everything Delphi knows to be normal. All her life, she has been a servant to a mysterious man named The Master - until The Master comes to her island home and asks her to undertake a dangerous task in the far-off, elemental lands. Delphi is alone in places with strange secrets and rules, with the fate of her world on her shoulders, and although she makes many friends she also attracts more dangerous attention... Leo has never known home - and he isn't exactly a normal boy. When he is kidnapped by a nameless man who tries to force Leo to reveal his powers, he finds he has nobody he can turn to - except a girl in his dreams called Delphi... Can Delphi find the Elemental Stones to bring the Control back into balance? Will she get to Leo's prison in time? And, when faced with the ultimate challenge, can Delphi find the inner strength to save everything she loves? A story about courage, friendship and finding where you belong. About the Author Esme Carpenter started writing at the age of twelve and since then has never looked back. Despite completing a five-book series by fifteen, she couldn't stop, resulting in a backlog of fantasy and science-fiction novels decaying on her harddrive, awaiting liberation (and possibly a good edit). An avid reader all her life, Esme always enjoyed stories. Her love of both writing and reading led her to the University of East Anglia to study English Literature and Creative Writing; she graduated summer 2011. Esme enjoys, amongst other things, comic books, video games and music, the latter of which gives her the best inspiration and is often used to drive her stories. At present she is writing a graphic novel. Against the Elements is her debut novel, written when she was fifteen and edited at the tender age of twenty-one. Esme lives in York, England, with a ridiculous amount of nerdy memorabilia.