Stravaganza Series by Mary Hoffman

Lucien is seriously ill but his life is transformed when an old Italian notebook gives him the power to become a stravagante, a time traveller with access to 16th century Italy. He wakes up in Bellezza (Venice) during carnival time and meets Arianna, a girl his own age who is disguised as a boy in the hope of being selected as one of the Duchessa's mandoliers... moreLucien is seriously ill but his life is transformed when an old Italian notebook gives him the power to become a stravagante, a time traveller with access to 16th century Italy. He wakes up in Bellezza (Venice) during carnival time and meets Arianna, a girl his own age who is disguised as a boy in the hope of being selected as one of the Duchessa's mandoliers. Arianna gives Lucien her boy's clothing and he is selected as a mandolier himself, becoming a friend of fellow-stravagante Rodolfo, the Duchessa's lover, and saving the Duchessa's life when she is threatened by an assassin hired by the powerful di Chimici family. For state occasions the Duchessa uses her maid Giuliana as a body-double but Guiliana commits the fatal mistake of revealing the secret to her fiance Enrico and a sequence of devastating consequences unravels. Meanwhile Lucien has met the original stravagante, the Elizabethan alchemist William Dethridge, and he begins to understand that he may be called to follow in his footsteps. less

Dreaming of a city with flying horses was one thing... But coming face to face with someone she knew to be dead - that was something else again.Georgia would love nothing more than to ride horses every day and avoid her annoying stepbrother at all costs. But she could never have guessed that a tiny, antique winged horse figurine would be the key to her escape to another world and another time... moreDreaming of a city with flying horses was one thing... But coming face to face with someone she knew to be dead - that was something else again.Georgia would love nothing more than to ride horses every day and avoid her annoying stepbrother at all costs. But she could never have guessed that a tiny, antique winged horse figurine would be the key to her escape to another world and another time. When Georgia arrives in a sixteenth-century city called Remora, she is plunged into a dangerous and treacherous world of horse-racing, family honour and deadly rivalry. And there, as a new Stravagante, Georgia will have a dramatic and extraordinary role to play... less

Sky stepped out into the sunshine, blinking, still holding the bottle, and a black man, robed like the others, took him by the arm and whispered, 'God be praised, it has found you!'Everything changes for Sky when he finds a perfume bottle that whiskes him away to the city of Giglia, an ancient city similar to Florence. This may be the beautiful City of Flowers, but things that seems beautiful might also be deadly... moreSky stepped out into the sunshine, blinking, still holding the bottle, and a black man, robed like the others, took him by the arm and whispered, 'God be praised, it has found you!'Everything changes for Sky when he finds a perfume bottle that whiskes him away to the city of Giglia, an ancient city similar to Florence. This may be the beautiful City of Flowers, but things that seems beautiful might also be deadly. As a new Stravagante - someone who can travel through space and time with the help of a talisman - Sky finds himself caught up in a deadly feud between Giglia's two ruling families. Now, the Stravaganti must do all they can to avoid further bloodshed as politics, conspiracy and espionage unfold. less

When Matt is unexpectedly transported to the Scriptorium of Padavia University, he discovers he is a Stravagante who can travel through time using his talisman, a leather-bound book. Together with Luciano and Arianna, he must fight the dangerous di Chimici clan who are on the verge of making a terrifying breakthrough into our world.

Isabel was rushing to her next lesson when she nearly tripped over the little ped pouch. She picked it up, fascinated; it looked like a prop from a school play. It definitely did have something inside and she couldn't resist opening the string to see what it was.Until she finds the mysterious little bag that seems to be from another time and place, Isabel is anything but extraordinary... moreIsabel was rushing to her next lesson when she nearly tripped over the little ped pouch. She picked it up, fascinated; it looked like a prop from a school play. It definitely did have something inside and she couldn't resist opening the string to see what it was.Until she finds the mysterious little bag that seems to be from another time and place, Isabel is anything but extraordinary. Then she falls asleep with the bag in her hand and wakes up in another world altogether - a world where she is badly needed.Isabel is a Stravagante, a person who can travel through time and space to a country called Talia, which is much like Italy. There she meet Flavia, a wealthy merchant whose ships have been attacked by pirates. And piracy isn't the only danger the Stravaganti face. The fierce Gate people are planning an attack by sea, while enemies of the Stravaganti are plotting to learn their secrets. Isabel will have an important role to play - she just doesn't know what it is yet.A high-seas, high-stakes adventure awaits in this thrilling new novel by Mary Hoffman. less

Desperately unhappy, Laura has resorted to self-harming. But Laura is a Stravagante, somebody who can travel in time and space. When she finds her talisman, a small silver dagger, she stravagates to 16th-century Fortezza, a town similar to Lucca in Italy, where she meets her Stravagante, who is a swordsmith.