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The Story

Four friends tumble from New Hampshire into Oz. Follow the tornado, meet Dorothy and discover the adventure that changes their lives.

When four modern teenagers find themselves lost in a mysterious place, their only goal is to find a way home. When the only way home is through a young girl and her magical shoes, how much are they willing to sacrifice to catch her?

Joshua Dudley, his twin sister Tamara, their friends Tommy Murphy and Laura Coleman are swept out of New Hampshire and into Oz in 1899. Dorothy Gale is already there, still making the journey readers know from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The four recognize the road, the Witch, the Wizard and Dorothy's companions, but knowing the book does not mean they know what is about to happen.

Joshua wakes on the Yellow Brick Road, with pieces of the car scattered nearby. Tamara calls to him from the woods. Finding their friends is the first step. Getting home means following Dorothy and finding out what her magical shoes can do.

The trilogy begins with Lost in Oz, as Joshua, Tamara, Laura and Tommy follow the Yellow Brick Road and meet the people they know from Dorothy’s story. Their search for a way home draws them into the struggle between the Wizard and the Witch of the West.

In Rise of the Dark Wizard, the friends are confined at Mifkets Asylum after telling their story. Joshua is determined to escape. Meanwhile, a Dark Wizard threatens Oz, and the prophecy that followed Joshua through the first adventure becomes even harder to ignore.

Temple of the Deadly Desert takes the search for answers across Oz. Professor Wogglebug supplies a map, and the flying Gump offers a way to reach the desert. Hidden in the desert is a temple that may explain why these friends were brought to Oz in the first place. All three adventures are collected in Lost in Oz: The Complete Trilogy.

The story continues in Guardians of Oz: The Demon Realm. A message hidden in a new bracelet charm calls Joshua, Tamara, Laura and Maria back to Oz. Their first official mission is tied to an adventure their grandmothers began in 1955.

The Books

Your adventure starts here. Explore the Lost in Oz trilogy, then step into Guardians of Oz.

Read the Lost in Oz trilogy first. Then try Guardians of Oz.

The Guardians

Four Guardians. Two generations. Discover the families chosen to protect Oz from the Demon Realm.

In 1955, an earthquake tears through Claremont, New Hampshire. Patricia, Wendy, Lorraine and Rose-Marie fall into a deep cavern, beginning their first adventure in Oz.

Years later, a new charm appears on Tamara’s bracelet: a tiny message in a bottle. It brings a call from Oz and a first official mission for Joshua, Tamara, Laura and Maria. The Demon King has returned, and Patricia’s memories of the earlier adventure may help them face him.

The Demon Realm follows both generations of Guardians. It is the first of nine planned books.

The first four Guardians in 1955

The Demon Realm begins with four schoolmates in Claremont, New Hampshire. Before they reach Oz, their choices already show who they are.

Patricia

Sixteen-year-old Patricia knows Baum’s books and dreams of Oz. She heads into town carrying a suitcase. When the earthquake sends a telephone pole falling toward a schoolmate, she runs to help.

Wendy Coleman

Wendy is seventeen, wears cat-eye glasses and is Patricia’s best friend. She spends her spare time at the library helping children learn to read. Patricia admires the way Wendy looks after people.

Lorraine Tucker

Lorraine has just moved from Salem, New Hampshire. Wendy introduces her to Patricia on the way into town. Patricia notices her high, dark hairstyle, pink cashmere sweater and black pencil skirt, and thinks she looks like a movie star.

Rose-Marie

Rose-Marie shares a history class with Patricia. They get to know each other in the middle of the earthquake, after Patricia rescues her from the falling pole. Still frightened, Rose-Marie thanks the girl who has just saved her life.

Joshua and Tamara's family

1955 GuardianPatricia BurpeeGrams · their father's mother
1955 GuardianLorraineGrammie · their mother's mother
TodayJoshua DudleyGuardian of Oz
TodayTamara DudleyGuardian of Oz

Laura's family

1955 GuardianWendyNana · Laura's grandmother
TodayLaura ColemanGuardian of Oz

Maria's family

1955 GuardianRose-MarieYaya · Maria's grandmother
TodayMaria DeProfioGuardian of Oz

Joshua and Tamara inherit two branches of the 1955 generation, one through each side of their family. Wendy's line leads to Laura, and Rose-Marie's leads to Maria. The family connection is part of why the four present-day Guardians are tied to Oz long before they understand what that means.

The Map of Oz

Pick a country, follow the yellow bricks and find a new corner of Oz. Tap a place to discover its story.

Oz has four colorful countries around the Emerald City. This map shows places from the Oz books and Lost in Oz.

Munchkin CountryEastBlue. Where the house lands and where the road begins.
Winkie CountryWestYellow. The Witch’s castle, and Nick Chopper’s after her.
Quadling CountrySouthRed. Glinda’s garden, and the flowers that talk back.
Gillikin CountryNorthPurple. Mountains, and the road up into them.
Tap a place to explore. Gold stars mark places from Lost in Oz.
Map notes

Conventional orientation is used here: Gillikin north, Quadling south, Munchkin east and Winkie west. Oz maps published over more than a century do not always agree, so small kingdoms are placed by their usual literary region rather than pretending every book gives exact coordinates. Zoom in to reveal smaller locations. Gold stars mark Lost in Oz locations and events; the dashed line connects story beats chronologically rather than claiming a mile-for-mile travel route. The Temple and its desert crossing are described in the Book Three guide; they are not pinned because the source does not establish which border they occupy.

Choose a location for its description, or zoom and explore the map above.

Oz book locationsLost in Oz locations and eventsMore labels appear as you zoom

The Characters

Meet the heroes, villains and wonderfully strange creatures of Oz. Choose a portrait to open their character guide.

Choose a face or a name to meet someone new.

The Magic of Oz

Silver shoes, enchanted books and three commands from a Golden Cap. Discover how the magic of Oz works.

Discover enchanted objects, amazing changes and the rules behind Oz magic.

The History of Oz

How did one book become a whole world? Travel through more than a century of Oz stories.

The first Oz book came out in 1900. L. Frank Baum wrote it, and W. W. Denslow drew the pictures. More books, plays and movies followed.

The Famous Forty

Forty books. One extraordinary fairyland. Explore the official adventures in reading order.

Baum wrote the first fourteen books. Other writers carried the story on. Here are all forty books in order.

Book cover credits

Verified historical cover scans are credited beside their books. Kabumpo uses a 1927 scan, although the book was first published in 1922; Grampa uses a scan of the 1924 Reilly & Lee edition. The Cowardly Lion uses a 1923 Reilly & Lee scan, and The Lost King uses a 1925 cover scan. Captain Salt uses a historical original-cover scan with its specific printing unverified. These scans are not certified here as first-printing states. The Wishing Horse uses a historical 1935 cover scan. Handy Mandy, The Silver Princess and Ozoplaning use historical cover reproductions supplied by Project Gutenberg; their exact printings are unverified. Glinda uses a historical cover scan cropped and rotated by its source; The Lost Princess cover photograph is credited to Sue Clark (perpetualplum). Specific printings remain unverified. Small source images are not enlarged beyond their available resolution. Other remote cover images remain under source review. Publication years shown in the list describe the books, not necessarily the pictured editions.

Russia's Magic Land Books

Meet another Emerald City! Explore Alexander Volkov’s six Magic Land books, from Ellie’s first journey to the army of wooden soldiers.

Alexander Volkov retold The Wizard of Oz in Russian. He then wrote five new adventures about Ellie, Totoshka and their friends.

Volkov's six books

The series runs from The Wizard of the Emerald City through The Secret of the Deserted Castle. The first book reworks Baum's original story; the remaining five are Volkov's own sequels.

The world kept growing

Later Russian and German writers continued the Magic Land tradition in separate continuation series. Sergei Sukhinov wrote a ten-book Tales of the Emerald City cycle, while other authors produced additional adventures in the same broad literary family.

Its own screen history

Volkov's version has also been filmed and animated, including the Soviet puppet serial, the Russian animated Fantastic Journey to Oz films and the modern live-action Wizard of the Emerald City.

Oz on Screen

Lights, camera, Oz! Explore movies, cartoons and television adventures from around the world.

Oz has been on screen for more than 100 years. Find cartoons, silent movies, musicals and adventures from around the world.

Collecting & Oz Merchandise

A treasure cabinet for Oz fans. Discover books, toys, costumes, music and movie magic.

Explore treasures made for generations of Oz fans.

Baum Beyond Oz

Oz was only the beginning. Set sail for more fairylands and adventures created by L. Frank Baum.

Baum imagined many fairylands. Explore his other adventures, short stories, plays and book series.

Other fairylands

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, Queen Zixi of Ix, John Dough and the Cherub, The Sea Fairies and Sky Island all belong to Baum's larger body of fantasy. Some characters from those books even cross into later Oz stories.

Books under other names

Baum used Edith Van Dyne for Aunt Jane’s Nieces, The Flying Girl and Mary Louise. His Boy Fortune Hunters adventures appeared as Floyd Akers, while the Twinkle Tales and Policeman Bluejay appeared as Laura Bancroft.

He worked beyond books

Baum wrote for the stage, experimented with motion pictures and toured a multimedia show years before feature films became standard. Oz was central to his career, but it was never the only thing he made.

Written as somebody else

The other books, in order

Joshua Patrick Dudley

I was two years old when I first watched The Wizard of Oz with my twin sister and our parents. From that point on, I was obsessed with the magical land and everybody living in it.

My mother and grandmother read all fourteen of L. Frank Baum’s original Oz books with me when I was a child. I returned to them as an adult and decided it was time to take my own journey to Oz, bringing my friends and family along.

Family is a big part of my books. Many of the characters are based on my own relatives and friends, and I use their actual names. Lost in Oz and Guardians of Oz let me bring those people into the world I grew up reading about.

I live in New Hampshire, where I work as an author, actor, model, musician and independent filmmaker. Lost in Oz: The Complete Trilogy brings the three original books together, and Guardians of Oz continues the adventure.

Oz in Your Classroom

Bring Oz into your classroom! Try creative-writing games, story prompts and projects for grades three through eight.

These activities are for grades three through eight. Try them in class, at home or at a library. Print a lesson and make it your own.

For school, library or festival visits, Book an appearance.

Get the Books

Ready for your own journey? Find Lost in Oz and the first Guardians of Oz book here.

The whole Lost in Oz trilogy is ready to read. The Demon Realm begins Guardians of Oz. More Guardians adventures are on the way.

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Book an appearance

Planning an event at a school, bookstore, library, convention or Oz festival? Send me the date, location and what you have in mind. We can talk about a book visit or a creative-writing workshop for your group.

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