Finding a fantasy novel

[ewyn]

Hi everyone, I am wondering about a book-series (at least what I remember being a series) I read in the mid-2000s.

From what I can remember, the book was centred around two children/teenagers. One of them a boy, the other a girl. They might have been related, as well. Somehow, they arrange some magic stones that open a portal into a different world where magic is present. It becomes apparent that there are several different worlds that they can travel to through these rocks, each rock having signs that symbolize what world they visit might consist most of (like rocks with ice, water and snow will send them into a very cold and chilly world). They meet a wizard (I'm pretty sure), who belongs to an order. He turns out to be not that nice. The girl has strong magic abilities, she also finds out that her father might belong to one of these worlds and she becomes desperate to find him. I think the wizard hatches a basilisk, who is very intelligent, and who begins to turn everyone in the village to stone. The boy, if I am not remembering wrong, has the ability to shapeshift. I am pretty sure he is able to turn into a wolf.

I cannot for the life of me find out what this series is called, please help me! I would love to revisit them.

Looking for 1970s Children's/YA Mystery

[klwill1192]

I'm trying to track down a book I read as a kid. It was a 1970s era YA mystery. Here are the few details I remember:
The main character had a friend who was a genius inventor. One of his inventions was a retractable staircase.
The main character had a newspaper route and was in a contest to sell subscriptions.
One of the mysteries involved what turned out to be a (friendly) family of circus performers.
At the end, the circus family purchased a number of newspaper subscriptions that resulted in the main character winning (I think) the subscription contest.

I really don't remember much more about the book, but I'm hoping these details will ring a bell with somebody.

Thank you.

Kevin