Synopses & Reviews
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler meets Chasing Vermeer in this clever middle grade debut
When Theodora Tenpenny spills a bottle of rubbing alcohol on her late grandfathers painting, she discovers what seems to be an old Renaissance masterpiece underneath. Thats great news for Theo, whos struggling to hang onto her familys two-hundred-year-old townhouse and support her unstable mother on her grandfathers legacy of $463. Theres just one problem: Theos grandfather was a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and she worries the painting may be stolen.
With the help of some unusual new friends, Theo's search for answers takes her all around Manhattan, and introduces her to a side of the cityand her grandfatherthat she never knew. To solve the mystery, she'll have to abandon her hard-won self-reliance and build a community, one serendipitous friendship at a time.
Uniquely readable, entirely charming, and a pleasure from start to finish. Debuts this good are meant to be discovered.” SLJ Fuse 8 Blog
Riveting from start to finish.” BookPage
Review
"[W]hen all the sidewalk characters from Miranda's Manhattan world converge amid mind-blowing revelations and cunning details, teen readers will circle back to the beginning and say,'Wow ... cool.'" Kirkus (Starred Review)
Review
"[T]he mental gymnastics required of readers are invigorating; and the characters, children, and adults are honest bits of humanity no matter in what place or time their souls rest." Booklist (Starred Review)
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"This unusual, thought-provoking mystery will appeal to several types of readers." School Library Journal (Starred Review)
Review
"Readers...are likely to find themselves chewing over the details of this superb and intricate tale long afterward." The Wall Street Journal
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"Smart and mesmerizing." The New York Time Book Review
Synopsis
This remarkable novel holds a fantastic puzzle at its heart.
By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it's safe to go, and they know who to avoid. Like the crazy guy on the corner.
But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a kid on the street for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda's mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then a mysterious note arrives, scrawled on a tiny slip of paper. The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows things no one should know. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she's too late.
Synopsis
This Newbery Medal winner that has a fantastic puzzle at its heart has been called -smart and mesmerizing, - (The New York Times), -superb- (The Wall Street Journal), and -incandescent- (The Washington Post).
When Miranda starts receiving mysterious notes, she doesn't know what to do.
The notes tell her that she must write a letter, a true story, and that she can't share her mission with anyone--not even her best friend, Sal.
It would be easy to ignore the strange messages, except that whoever is leaving them has an uncanny ability to predict the future. If that's the case, then Miranda has an even bigger problem--because the notes tell her that someone is going to die, and she might be too late to stop it.
-Lovely and almost impossibly clever.- --The Philadelphia Inquirer
Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction
A New York Times Bestseller and Notable Book
Synopsis
Like A Wrinkle in Time (Miranda's favorite book), When You Reach Me far surpasses the usual whodunit or sci-fi adventure to become an incandescent exploration of 'life, death, and the beauty of it all.' --The Washington Post
This Newbery Medal winner that has been called smart and mesmerizing, (The New York Times) and superb (The Wall Street Journal) will appeal to readers of all types, especially those who are looking for a thought-provoking mystery with a mind-blowing twist.
Shortly after a fall-out with her best friend, sixth grader Miranda starts receiving mysterious notes, and she doesn't know what to do. The notes tell her that she must write a letter--a true story, and that she can't share her mission with anyone.
It would be easy to ignore the strange messages, except that whoever is leaving them has an uncanny ability to predict the future. If that is the case, then Miranda has a big problem--because the notes tell her that someone is going to die, and she might be too late to stop it.
Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction
A New York Times Bestseller and Notable Book
Five Starred Reviews
A Junior Library Guild Selection
Absorbing. --People
Readers ... are likely to find themselves chewing over the details of this superb and intricate tale long afterward. --The Wall Street Journal
Lovely and almost impossibly clever. --The Philadelphia Inquirer
It's easy to imagine readers studying Miranda's story as many times as she's read L'Engle's, and spending hours pondering the provocative questions it raises. --Publishers Weekly, Starred review
Synopsis
Includes 6 copies of Liar & Spy (HC/9780385737432) and 3 copies of When You Reach Me (DG/9780375850868)
Synopsis
For fans of The Westing Game and The 39 Clues, a third exciting Winston Breen adventure!Winston Breen and his friends Mal and Jake accompany Mr. Penrose for a weekend of puzzles and games at the mansion of a famous musician. Over the course of the weekend, some guests’ prizes and belongings inexplicably disappear. As the group continues with the elaborate puzzles—which the reader is invited to solve too—some of the guests try to figure out who is stealing things, and others become suspects. But in the end it’s Winston who stumbles upon several clues, and eventually discovers the real culprit. A fast-paced whodunit, this latest Winston Beren installment will have readers hooked!
Synopsis
From two-time Newbery honoree and Printz honoree, Gary D. Schmidt, comes a tale of high fantasy, where a peaceful civilization of a faraway planet has been besieged by a dark lord, and in a desperate attempt for survival send their most precious gift across the cosmos, hurtling past a trillion lighted stars . . . all the way into the lunchbox of Tommy Pepper, sixth grader, of Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Synopsis
The Valorim are about to fall to a dark lord when they send a necklace containing their planet across the cosmos, hurtling past a trillion stars . . . all the way into the lunchbox of Tommy Pepper, sixth grader, of Plymouth, Mass. Mourning his late mother, Tommy doesn't notice much about the chain he found, but soon he is drawing the twin suns and humming the music of a hanorah. As Tommy absorbs the art and language of the Valorim, their enemies target him. When a creature begins ransacking Plymouth in search of the chain, Tommy learns he must protect his family from villains far worse than he's ever imagined.
About the Author
Gary D. Schmidt is the bestselling author of Okay For Now, the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, and the Newbery Honor book The Wednesday Wars. He is a professor of English at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.