Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor Books in Order

The Winterborne Home books bring Ally Carter’s love of secret passages and shadowy organizations to a slightly younger audience. The series centers on April Raven, a girl who has spent most of her life in foster homes with only a key on a chain and a note from her missing mother to hint at where she came from.

In Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor, a school trip to a museum changes everything. April spots the Winterborne family crest carved into a display that matches the symbol on her key. A fire, a rescue, and a fast decision by the Winterborne Foundation later, she finds herself living in Winterborne House, a sprawling old mansion owned by a reclusive heir, Gabriel Winterborne.

Winterborne House is not a quiet place. April joins four other foster kids, each with their own quirks and talents, from gadget-loving Sadie to smooth-talking Colin. There are locked rooms, rumors that Gabriel is dead, and a masked figure stalking the grounds. As April starts to believe the Winterbornes might be connected to her past, she and the others must protect their new home from people who would happily take it apart brick by brick.

The sequel, Winterborne Home for Mayhem and Mystery, finds the kids a little more settled but no less busy. They are the only ones who know that Gabriel is actually the Sentinel, a sword-wielding vigilante who protects the city. When a second masked figure appears and Gabriel disappears, the children realize there may be more than one Sentinel—and that this new one might be an enemy.

Outside pressure closes in too. A no-nonsense social worker questions whether Winterborne House is a safe place for children, and long-lost relatives start turning up with their own agendas. April has to decide what family means to her: the parents she barely remembers, or the chaotic household she has now.

The series blends mystery, action, and found-family warmth. There are fights on rooftops and escapes through dumbwaiters, but also quiet scenes of kids cooking together, learning to trust adults who are far from perfect, and figuring out how to be brave when no one is watching. It is a good fit for readers who like their adventures with both capes and comfort.