On an ordinary evening, just as he’s about to leave for a party, 15-year-old Andy Zadinski receives a phone call from a stranger that changes his life. The caller, Zeke, confesses to the murder of a young woman named Nina Klemmer. Andy immediately calls the police, who shrug it off as a gag or a crank call. But Andy persists when he happens to meet Nina, who is just as Zeke described her. She takes his warnings as harassment, however, and everyone now thinks that Andy himself made up the call. His attempts to ferret out Zeke and protect Nina, while compromising his own safety, make for an exciting tale of the terror lurking beneath everyday surroundings and behind ordinary events.
Windcatcher
Tony can hardly believe it. He’s sailing with the wind, maneuvering through the narrow channels between the offshore islands with amazing skill. And he’sjust learned to sail! But suddenly Tony is confused. Which way had he come? Which way is he headed? And who are the mysterious couple with the high powered motor boat who are to busy searching beneath the water to answer his call for help?
Tony does some searching on his own. What he discovers leads him on a daring hunt for a 200-year-old shipwreck . . . and a dangerous confrontation with treasure hunters who will stop at nothing to keep Tony from learning their secret.
Who Was that Masked Man, Anyway?
World War II is just background noise for Frankie Wattleson. His life revolves around action-packed radio dramas like “Buck Rodgers” and “The Lone Ranger.” Suspense, heroism, thrills — what more could an American boy want?
Frankie’s mom can’t stand her son’s hobby, though, and neither can his teacher, MissGomez. It all spells doomsday for Frankie — unless he, disguised as radio detective Chet Barker, can cook up a plan to save the day.
Tune in tomorrow to find out how this hilarious drama unfolds!
Who Stole the Wizard of Oz
One of Newbery Honor author Avi’s most popular middle-grade mysteries is available in paper once again. The mystery revolves around a rare edition of The Wizard of Oz missing from the local library. When Becky is accused of stealing it, she and her twin brother Toby set out to catch the real thief and prove her innocence. Clues cleverly hidden in four other books lead to a hidden treasure–and a gripping adventure.
What do Fish have to do with Anything
In the overlapping years when childhood and adolescence blend and shift like waves and sand, nothing is certain and everything is changing. In this extraordinary collection of stories, Avi, one of the most innovative authors writing for young people today, charts the turning points in the lives of seven protagonists in their restless middle years. Here you will meet, among others, the subject of the title story, who wonders why he shouldn’t ask questions that have no answers — is it because he might discover the truth? You’ll also encounter a “bad” minister’s son who is dared to be good, and a chilling tale of a girl who is haunted by the ghosts of her cats. Always with a surprise built in, an angle unseen, these are stories that step just beyond the edge of the everyday.
Traitor’s Gate
John Huffam is sure the tall man’s beard is false. He’s sure of little else in November 1849, the year he is fourteen, the year his father is sentenced to London’s Whitecross Street Prison.
Maybe the man following John — who claims to be one Inspector Copperfield — can explain why. Surely, Pa isn’t prepared to reveal the truth, any more than the jovial bailiff, Mr. Tuckum, who knows something, but remains mum. Or the little Frenchman, Mr. Farquatt, who courts John’s sister but seems most keen on Pa’s work at the Naval Ordinance Office. Or Mr. O’Doul, the Irishman who insists Pa owes him the unimaginable sum of three hundred pounds.
Or what of the one-legged, single-mindedly fierce Sergeant Muldspoon, John’s teacher? What about the boy’s great-great-aunt, Lady Euphemia Huffam, who could pay the debt but won’t for reasons of her own? What about the secretive Mr. Snugsbe of All Hallows Church, who hides himself away in the City’s most voluminous coat?
Then there’s Chief Inspector Ratchet of Scotland Yard, who is after somebody for some crime or other. True, John has a new friend and ally in Sary the Sneak…but what has even she got up her sleeve?
What John learns on his own is that there’s a traitor on the loose, somewhere. And he must uncover the villain — no matter who it might be.
Things That Sometimes Happen: Very Short Stories for Little Listeners
Here are a few things that sometimes happen:
HAPPY THINGS
An unpopular Black Crayon proves to a Little Girl how useful he really is.
SAD THINGS
On a very hot day, an Ice-Cream Cone waits…and waits…to be eaten.
EXCITING THINGS
A Papa catches cold, so his Little Boy gets to go to work instead!
These nine very short stories for very young readers — culled from Newbery Honor author Avi’s first book and illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Marjorie Priceman — ingeniously capture the funny, surprising spirit of a child’s imagination.
Strange Happenings: Five Tales of Transformation
Children become cats and birds, a once-invisible young woman pieces herself back together, and the identity of a mysterious baseball mascot is uncovered–all within this eclectic collection from master storyteller Avi. By turns chilling, ethereal, and surreal, these thought-provoking tales are sure to engage anyone who has ever wondered what it would be like to become someone–or something–else.
Sophia’s War: A Tale of the Revolution
In 1776, young Sophia Calderwood witnesses the execution of Nathan Hale in New York City, which is newly occupied by the British army. Sophia is horrified by the event and resolves to do all she can to help the American cause. Recruited as a spy, she becomes a maid in the home of General Clinton, the supreme commander of the British forces in America. Through her work she becomes aware that someone in the American army might be switching sides, and she uncovers a plot that will grievously damage the Americans if it succeeds. But the identity of the would-be traitor is so shocking that no one believes her, and so Sophia decides to stop the treacherous plot herself, at great personal peril: She’s young, she’s a girl, and she’s running out of time. And if she fails, she’s facing an execution of her own.
Sometimes I Think I Hear My Name
It wasn’t that thirteen-year-old Conrad didn’t like living with his aunt and uncle in St. Louis. It’s just that his mother and father both lived in New York and he hadn’t seen them lately. And he had a few questions he needed to have answered. That’s how Conrad happened to spend the strangest week of his life in New York City with a girl he hardly knew–and getting more answers than he had questions…about his parents, himself, and what real families are all about.Conrad lives in St. Louis with his aunt and uncle, who his divorced parents feel can provide the stable home life they can’t manage in New York City. When his mother decides that he should spend spring vacation in London instead of with her, Conrad is sure something is wrong, and he goes to New York to find out what. Once there he contacts Nancy, a secretive girl with a family life just as strange as Conrad’s. With Nancy by his side, Conrad embarks on a remarkable adventure of discovery-about his family and about himself.
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