Mister Monday by Garth Nix

Book one in a blockbuster series, The Keys to the Kingdom, by the internationally acclaimed Garth Nix. Moving between our familiar world and bizarre other realms where nothing is predictable, Nix delivers a thrilling adventure-fantasy of breathtaking scope and ingenuity.Arthur Penhaligon is not supposed to be a hero. He is, in fact, supposed to die an early death. But then he is saved by a key shaped like the minute hand of a clock.Arthur is safe but his world is not. Along with the key comes a plague brought by bizarre creatures from another realm. A stranger named Mister Monday, his avenging messengers with blood-stained wings, and an army of dog-faced Fetchers will stop at nothing to get the key back even if it means destroying Arthur and everything around him.Desperate, Arthur ventures into a mysterious house a house that only he can see. It is in this house that Arthur must unravel the secrets of the key and discover his true fate.Mister Monday is the first book in The Keys to the Kingdom series.Garth Nix is the best-selling author of Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen.

I loved this book when I was a kid! I remember I was out with my uncle and my sister and he bought each of us a book and this was my choice.

A 1001 Children's book. Audio. Arthur sets out on a quest to unite the two hands of a clock in an attempt to stop a plague from destroying the people of Earth.

Wow, this was a wild story. It was hard to wrap my head around it so I quit trying and just kept reading.

Arthur is a boy with bad asthma that is having to deal with the difficulties of being a new kid in school. He finds himself swept up in a whirlwind of fantasy as he is trying to keep up with the other kids in gym class. The gym teacher didn't listen to everything he said when he was trying to explain about his breathing problems. In an attempt to join the group running he triggered an asthma attack when he saw 2 strange men approaching him. He was given a key that the giver was reluctant to give and then a book came flying out of no where. After a couple of other kids found him and helped him get his inhaler he started feeling better but still ended up in the hospital where his mom worked finding cures for the flu. While in the hospital he was visited by the same kids that helped him and they mentioned the strange men. Arthur through he'd imagined them. After he got home he looked at the book and saw lines sketch out The House. It was huge and took up a whole block. The book showed him the way in. When these dog men started chasing him and everyone started to get sick he went to the house to get away. He knew he had to figure out what was going on and find a way to stop the plague before it killed everyone.