The Golden Compass (Book #1 His Dark Materials)

A war is brewing in Lyra’s world between those who would keep people in ignorance and those willing to fight for freedom. Lyra is thrust into the middle of the conflict when her uncle Asriel comes to Oxford, fomenting rebellion, and when her best friend, Roger, suddenly disappears.

Lyra learns that Roger was kidnapped by a shadowy organization that is rumored to experiment on children. To find him, she will travel to the cold, far North, where armored bears and witch clans rule–and where Asriel is attempting to build a bridge to a parallel world.

What Lyra doesn’t know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other–and that her actions will have consequences not just in her world, but in all the worlds beyond.