The Weirn Books Books in Order

The Weirn Books returns to the Night Realm introduced in Nightschool but reimagines it for a younger middle grade audience. The series follows cousins Ailis and Na’ya, two weirn kids who attend a night school for supernatural beings and discover that their small town hides big secrets.

Weirns are witches born with astrals, guardian spirits that float beside them like living, inky shadows. Ailis is a quiet, clever introvert living with her tough-as-nails grandma above a magic shop while her parents are away. Na’ya, her cousin, is sharp-tongued, fiercely confident, and obsessed with dragons. Together they navigate classes in alchemistry and spellcasting, dodge the popular girls who call them “loser cousins,” and try to keep an eye on Na’ya’s energetic little brother, D’esh.

Every evening on the way to school, the kids cut through the Silent Woods, a patch of forest that holds a crumbling, off-limits mansion. Rumors say terrible things happened there years ago. When a strange shadow appears near the house, a classmate starts acting oddly, and an old newspaper clipping turns up in Grandma’s attic, Ailis and Na’ya begin to suspect that the past tragedy is not as distant as adults pretend.

In the first volume, Be Wary of the Silent Woods, an investigation that starts as a goose chase quickly becomes urgent when D’esh vanishes. Ailis, Na’ya, their neighbor Jasper, a shape-shifter named Russ, and even their rival Patricia are drawn into rescue efforts that reveal what really happened at the mansion and why their grandmother is so haunted by it. The book balances genuine spookiness with humor, cozy scenes in Grandma’s shop, and the everyday dramas of friendships and rivalries.

The second volume, The Ghost and the Stolen Dragon, takes place after those events. Na’ya is plagued by nightmares and decides that the only way to keep everyone safe is to gain more power, specifically by turning herself into the dragon she has always dreamed of becoming. A spell gone wrong instead summons a dragon and stirs up a new ghostly threat at school, forcing the kids to confront both magical fallout and the emotional cost of trying to handle everything alone.

Throughout the series, Chmakova leans into what made Berrybrook Middle School resonate: believable kids, complex friendships, and moments where humor takes the edge off fear. The Night Realm is packed with details—astrals with their own quirks, enchanted architecture, and a school system designed for nocturnal creatures—but the focus stays on how Ailis, Na’ya, and their friends react when things go wrong.

These books work as an entry point into Chmakova’s fantasy universe for readers who might not be ready for the darker tone of Nightschool. They are spooky without being overwhelming, thoughtful about bullying and social pressure, and full of magic that feels both wondrous and just a little bit dangerous, the way the best middle grade fantasy does.