The Key to Rondo is the first book of the Rondo series

Rondo (series)

The Rondo series is a children's fantasy fiction trilogy written by Jennifer Rowe under the pen name Emily Rodda....

 written by Australian author Jennifer Rowe

Jennifer Rowe

Jennifer June Rowe is an Australian author. Her crime fiction for adults is published under her own name, while her children's fiction is published under the pseudonyms Emily Rodda and Mary-Anne Dickinson...

, under the pseudonym

Pseudonym

A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 Emily Rodda.

Plot summary

When Leo is given a family music box after his Great Aunt Bethany died, Mimi, Leo's cousin comes to stay. Mimi had always been annoying. When she finally got her wish to see the music box more closely, she doesn't follow the rules and turns the key of the Music box four times and two blue butterflies fly out. When Leo turns the key six times the evil Blue Queen arrives and steals Mimi's dog, Mutt by calling him by his real name - Mutt.the pair try to save Mutt but are too late. they call each other by their names - Leo and Mimi. the queen tries to hypnotise them into joining her but fails.after she leaves them, they find a note saying not to trust the queen, take her hand, or give her your name. Later in the book the pair realise that the Blue Queen forces people to follow her by simply calling their real name. Mimi leaves to go to Rondo, the magical land and "world" inside the music box and Leo comes to. They go on an adventure to find Mimi's dog. They face troubles together, and learn everything including each others secrets. They meet fearsome characters such as Hal, Conker, Spoiler, Tye, Bertha the supposedly 'famous' pig who help them on their journey. Mimi uses her imagination to create things in Rondo such as making a troll appear when they are crossing a bridge (Mimi has a fear of trolls) and also pretending to make Rondo have an earthquake in the end of the book when Leo and Mimi throw the fake key to Rondo in the fireplace. this key happens to have a legend that if the key is destroyed, so is Rondo. at the end of the book, Mimi and Leo realise that Hal is actually a relative that got stuck in Rondo.

Sequels

The sequel is called The Wizard of Rondo

The Wizard of Rondo

The Wizard of Rondo is a children's fantasy novel written by Emily Rodda. It was first published in 2008 and is the second book in the Rondo series. It is the sequel to The Key to Rondo and is followed by The Battle for Rondo....

followed by the third and final book The Battle for Rondo, which has only been published in Australia.

Main characters

• Leo Zifkak: (Also a Langlander) The owner of the musicbox. He and his cousin Mimi travel to Rondo and defeat the Blue Queen.
• Mimi Langlander: Leo's cousin and owner of the key.
• Mutt: Mimi's dog
• Bertha: Farmer McDonald's watchpig
• Hal: (Formerly known as Henry Langlander) The wizard who, with the help from Conker, Freda and Tye, took the Blue Queen's power away and ended the Dark Time. It is said that Hal lost his magical powers in that battle. He now acts, secretly, as a hero.
• Conker: A dot-catcher, and one of Hal's old companions at the last battle, where he helped him with Freda and Tye to stop the Blue Queen's power and "reign".
• Freda: Conker's talking duck, friend, companion and dot-catcher-companion. She can be dangerous, and she eats several things, like dots.
• Tye: A mysterious woman and the last of the Terlemaine. She looks like a human-tiger. The Terlemaine was a great species and race of a people. The Blue Queen destroyed them.
• Spoiler: (Also known as "Wicked" Uncle George)
• The Blue Queen: A evil witch and queen, whose name is Indigo. She had once taken over the world and land of Rondo. But her reign was ended by Hal the wizard, Conker, Freda and Tye. They, by that, also ended the Dark Time. The Blue Queen is deceitful and wicked.

Creatures

• Dots: Small cruel creatures, that look like gingerbread men
  Gingerbread man
  A gingerbread man is a biscuit or cookie made of gingerbread, usually in the shape of a stylized human, commonly male as the name suggests, although making other shapes, especially seasonal themes and characters, is quite common as well.-History:...
  
  , who steal everything they can get. It's like a variant of our rat plague, just in Rondo.
• Terlemaines: A currently destroyed and devastated race of unique people. They are strange-looking, like the body of a tiger with black markings on their yellowish skin. Tye is the last of them now.
• Trolls: Trolls are also creatures that can be found in Rondo, or at least found under its bridge on the way to the Blue Queen's castle.
• Dragons: Dragons are also creatures that lives in Rondo. Sometimes a dragon can be seen flying in the sky.
• Talking animals: Talking animals are perhaps normal in Rondo. A lot of animal-characters that can talk appears in the series and book, which includes: Bertha the pig, Rufus the fox, Freda the duck etc.