Thomas Templeton and the Year of the Vivificus

Nine-year old Thomas Templeton cannot believe his luck when he is selected from thousands of children and offered a full scholarship to the secretive and ancient Animalia Magnus Academy, the only animal language school in the world, where he will learn to communicate with all living creatures in their own languages.
During a yearlong journey across the Pacific Ocean, Thomas encounters, not only unexpected dangers, uncharted islands and amazing creatures unknown to the rest of the world, but also a terrifying secret and a shocking truth about his own family that will change his life forever.