The Time of the Fireflies


Kimberley Griffiths Little - 2014
    When Larissa Renaud starts receiving eerie phone calls on a disconnected old phone in her family's antique shop, she knows she's in for a strange summer. A series of clues leads her to the muddy river banks, where clouds of fireflies dance among the cypress knees and cattails each evening at twilight. The fireflies are beautiful and mysterious, and they take her on a magical journey through time, where Larissa learns secrets about her family's tragic past--deadly, curse-ridden secrets that could harm the future of her family as she knows it. It soon becomes clear that it is up to Larissa to prevent history from repeating itself and a fatal tragedy from striking the people she loves. With her signature lyricism, Kimberley Griffiths Little weaves a thrilling tale filled with family secrets, haunting mystery, and dangerous adventure.

Urn Burial


Robert Westall - 1987
    By digging into the stones, he discovers a strange "sleeping" creature with ointments and a dangerous weapon buried alongside. Before he knows it, he has awakened a dangerous and terrifying secret.

The Case of the Missing Moonstone


Jordan Stratford - 2015
    Isolated, awkward and a bit rude—but a genius. Mary Godwin, age fourteen, is a romantic. Adventurous, astute, and kind, Mary is to become Ada’s first true friend. And together, the girls conspire to form the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency—a secret constabulary for the apprehension of clever criminals. Their first case involves a stolen heirloom, a false confession, and an array of fishy suspects. But it’s no match for the deductive powers and bold hearts of Ada and Mary.   Mystery fans will love this tween girl riff on Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. History buffs will be delighted to see all the real figures who play a role in this story and appreciate the extensive backmatter that helps separate truth from fiction. Parents and educators hoping to promote the STEM fields for girls will be thrilled to have a series where two girls use math, science, and creative analytical thinking to solve crimes. But most espicially--emerging readers will love this series filled with humor, action, intrigue and wonderful artwork from Kelly Murphy.From the Hardcover edition.

House of Danger (Choose Your Own Adventure, #15)


R.A. Montgomery - 1982
    Then comes a case that is as difficult as it is frightening. An anonymous caller begs for help. But before you can find out more, the line goes dead...The phone rings again, and this time you are ready. "Hello," you say."Help, I need your hel-l-l-lp....""Who are you?" you ask. "What is your name?""I'm scared," the voice says. "They're after me..." Click. The phone goes dead again. In the few seconds that have passed, your telephone-tracing device has already found the number of the other phone as well as the name and address of its owner: 555-7259, HENRY MARSDEN, 1100 HEDGE BROOK.If you decide you should go immediately to 1100 Hedge Brook, turn to page 4. If you decide to give your friends Ricardo and Lisa a chance to call back, turn to page 14. YOU choose what happens next!

The Graveyard Book, Volume 1


P. Craig RussellLovern Kindzierski - 2014
    Craig Russell and illustrated by an extraordinary team of renowned artists.Inventive, chilling, and filled with wonder, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book reaches new heights in this stunning adaptation. Artists Kevin Nowlan, P. Craig Russell, Tony Harris, Scott Hampton, Galen Showman, Jill Thompson, and Stephen B. Scott lend their own signature styles to create an imaginatively diverse and yet cohesive interpretation of Neil Gaiman's luminous novel.Volume One contains Chapter One through the Interlude, while Volume Two will include Chapter Six to the end.

Rooftoppers


Katherine Rundell - 2013
    True, there were no other recorded female survivors from the shipwreck which left baby Sophie floating in the English Channel in a cello case, but Sophie remembers seeing her mother wave for help. Her guardian tells her it is almost impossible that her mother is still alive, but that means still possible. You should never ignore a possible. So when the Welfare Agency writes to her guardian threatening to send Sophie to an orphanage, she takes matters into her own hands and flees to Paris to look for her mother, starting with the only clue she has - the address of the cello maker. Evading the French authorities, she meets Matteo and his network of rooftoppers - urchins who live in the sky. Together they scour the city for Sophie's mother before she is caught and sent back to London, and most importantly before she loses hope.

A Traveller in Time


Alison Uttley - 1939
    A beloved time travel story that has endured for generations.

The Medusa Plot


Gordon Korman - 2011
    They thought the hunt for 39 Clues leading to the source of that power was over. They even thought they'd won. But Amy and Dan were wrong.One by one, distress calls start coming in from around the globe. Cahills are being kidnapped by a shadowy group known only as the Vespers. Now Amy and Dan have only days to fulfill a bizarre ransom request or their captured friends will start dying. Amy and Dan don't know what the Vespers want or how to stop them. Only one thing is clear. The Vespers are playing to win, and if they get their hands on the Clues . . . the world will be their next hostage.

Steinbeck's Ghost


Lewis Buzbee - 2008
    His parents are working harder now, to pay for it all, and Travis is left to fend for himself.There’s one place, though, where Travis can still connect with his old life: the Salinas library. Travis and his family used to go there together every Saturday, but now he bikes to it alone, re-reading his favorite books.It’s only natural that Travis likes the work of author John Steinbeck—after all, Salinas is Steinbeck’s hometown. But that can’t explain why Travis is suddenly seeing Steinbeck’s characters spring to life. There’s the homeless man in the alley behind the library, the line of figures at the top of a nearby ridge, the boy who writes by night in an attic bedroom. Travis has met them all before—as a reader. But why are they here now? And how?As Travis struggles to solve this mystery, budget cuts threaten his library. And so, he embarks on a journey through Steinbeck’s beautiful California landscape, looking for a way to save his safe haven. It’s only then that he begins to sort out fact from fiction, discovering the many ways a story can come alive—and stumbling into a story Steinbeck might have started, and Travis needs to complete.Here is a mystery that delves deeply into the ways that books take us, one at a time, out into the vast world.

Trillions


Nicholas Fisk - 1971
    Were they a blessing, as their beauty suggested, or a deadly, inexplicable threat? A boy with a microscope was just as likely to come up with the answer as all the acknowledged experts in any known kind of science, so somehow it seemed natural for two 'ordinary' boys, Scott and Bem, to join forces with an ex-spaceman against the frightening efforts of the ruthless General Harman to destroy the Trillions, no matter what the cost.This tense and highly original book is by the author of six other exciting favourites, 'Space Hostages', 'Grinny', 'Time Trap', 'A rag, a bone and a Hank of Hair' and 'Wheelie in the Stars'.

Jane-Emily, and Witches' Children


Patricia Clapp - 1969
    But that was a long time ago.Jane is nine years old and an orphan when she and her young Aunt Louisa come to spend the summer at Jane's grandmother's house, a large, mysterious mansion in Massachusetts. Then one day . . . Jane stares into a reflecting ball in the garden—and the face that looks back at her is not her own.Many years earlier, a child of rage and malevolence lived in this place. And she never left. Now Emily has dark plans for little Jane—a blood-chilling purpose that Louisa, just a girl herself, must battle with all her heart, soul, and spirit . . . or she will lose her innocent, helpless niece forever.One of the most adored ghost stories of all time is available again after thirty years—to thrill and chill a new generation!

Jade Green


Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - 2000
     Judith can't bear to part with the photograph of her mother in its lovely green silk frame. Surely this one small defiance will not jeopardize the happiness she finds in South Carolina -- with a family at last, and new friends, especially Zeke Carey, the miller's son. But Uncle Geoffrey's house holds a secret of its own. And Judith's small picture frame, hidden away at the bottom of her trunk, unleashes a powerful force that seems determined to bring that secret into the open. Or is Judith simply following her mother down the path toward madness?

In the Stone Circle


Elizabeth Cody Kimmel - 1998
    From the moment they arrive, though, things prove to be anything but dull.

Cursed Pirate Girl: The Collected Edition, Volume One


Jeremy A. Bastian - 2008
    A whimsical swashbuckling tale of wonderland journeys and unimaginable dangers, starting in Port Elisabeth, Jamaica in the year 1728, and quickly heading across—and beneath—the waves. The first three issues of Cursed Pirate Girl are collected in this edition with an all-new epilogue.

Delia's Shadow


Jaime Lee Moyer - 2013
    But a dark secret colors her life, for Delia’s most loyal companions are ghosts, as she has been gifted (or some would say cursed) with an ability to peer across to the other side.Since the great quake rocked her city in 1906, Delia has been haunted by an avalanche of the dead clamoring for her help. Delia flees to the other side of the continent, hoping to gain some peace. After several years in New York, Delia believes she is free…until one determined specter appears and she realizes that she must return to the City by the Bay in order to put this tortured soul to rest.It will not be easy, as the ghost is only one of the many victims of a serial killer who was never caught. A killer who after thirty years is killing again. And who is now aware of Delia’s existence.