Three books, same premise.

[conuly]

"Parents mysteriously disappear; optionally, some time later the non-parental guardians ALSO mysteriously disappear. It transpires that the adults are in hiding/on the run from a magical/supernatural threat. Children are thrown into a new world utterly unprepared. At least one of the children is disbelieving even in the face of the evidence."

DO NOT DO THIS TO YOUR CHILDREN. If you are actually a Super Important Person in the magical world and the fight or whatever, loop them in! Even if they don't believe you, at least they won't have quite such a steep learning curve when the fight inevitably comes to them.

Plus, you shouldn't lie to your kids about stuff like this. It's not quite up there with lying to them about adoption, but it's darn close.

Semi-relatedly, it'd be a nice twist if, after all this set-up and perhaps an entire book or at least most of it, we were to find out that the parents were on the wrong side. (They could've at least partially changed their minds by the time the kids got roped into this, if you want more sympathy points. It can be hard to write loving parents who are also bad people.) We don't see this often enough - actually, I can only think of two examples, and in one it's extremely obvious to the reader right from the start, and in the other it's obvious to the reader and also the kids from very nearly the start. Also, they're both supervillain stories, not magical world stories, but same diff.

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Comments

[ndrosen]

I am reminded of Poul Anderson’s MOTHER OF KINGS, which is not a magical world story, or a parental disappearance story, but does involve loving parents (Eirik and Gunnhild) who are also bad people.

[conuly]

You have to go back two decades to find that, I note, and I bet it isn't a kid's book either.

[alexseanchai]

additionally, threatening the kids to get at the parents seems like an obvious possibility the parents ought to think of, take measures against, and warn the kids about before it occurs to whoever the parents are hiding/running from

[conuly]

Seriously.

And, in one of those books, the kids barely even leave the house. They're kept almost completely isolated. (It's a big house, but still.) They could have been told. It's not like they're hearing other things from their classmates.

[pauamma]

Emir Kusturica, Daddy is on a business trip. (Also known as When Father was away on business.)

[conuly]

Never heard of it!

[pauamma]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089748/

[sabotabby]

Semi-relatedly, it'd be a nice twist if, after all this set-up and perhaps an entire book or at least most of it, we were to find out that the parents were on the wrong side. (They could've at least partially changed their minds by the time the kids got roped into this, if you want more sympathy points. It can be hard to write loving parents who are also bad people.) We don't see this often enough - actually, I can only think of two examples, and in one it's extremely obvious to the reader right from the start, and in the other it's obvious to the reader and also the kids from very nearly the start. Also, they're both supervillain stories, not magical world stories, but same diff.

I guess His Dark Materials is almost this but Pullman has to go and give the parents a stupid redemption arc even though they're irredeemable.

[conuly]

There's a reason I've never re-read those.

[sabotabby]

1.5 of them are really good. Unfortunately there are more than that.