A musically gifted bird, a piano-playing boy, and a real-life mystery involving three artistic geniuses
Welcome to the world of Mirabelle, a young goldfinch who loves to sing and dreams of becoming a musical star. She lives with her family in the backyard of a piano teacher, and she is quickly intrigued by Mr. Starek's newest pupil. Michael Jin is an eleven-year-old keyboard sensation, but lesson after lesson, he refuses to play. With the prestigious Chopin Festival looming at summer's end, how will he be ready in time? Mirabelle is responsible for Michael's breakthrough-to her own astonishment, she sings the Chopin piece he is beginning to play at the piano. It is their first duet.
Thus begins a secret adventure that will take Mirabelle and Michael further than they ever imagined-in music, in friendship, and in solving the mystery of a lost piano that could be worth millions. A house full of treasures holds the clues. There, Mirabelle, Michael, and their friend Emily will make an important discovery that links the great composer Frederic Chopin, the trailblazing author George Sand, and the French Romantic painter Eugene Delacroix.
A fast-paced, history-rich mystery will have young readers hooked as they root for boy and bird in this beautifully told novel, full of emotion and suspense.
For fourteen-year-old Lucy Martinez, that moment comes one night during a long road trip with her older brother, Jamie, and his friend Kit. They're on their way to Phoenix to visit Lucy's father for spring break, but never quite make it. While driving across northern New Mexico during a blinding rainstorm, their car hits something - an animal, they think. But after backtracking, they find a girl, dead, on the side of the road. With amazing insight and compelling prose, Elise Broach charts a suspenseful journey full of danger, loss, and painful self-discovery. What will happen to the lives of three teenagers who can suddenly no longer pretend innocence?
It's summer and the three Barker brothers - Simon, Henry, and Jack - just moved from Illinois to Arizona. Their parents have warned them repeatedly not to explore Superstition Mountain, which is near their home. But when their cat Josie goes missing, they see no other choice. There's something unusually creepy about the mountain and after the boys find three human skulls, they grow determined to uncover the mystery. Have people really gone missing over the years, and could there be someone or some thing lurking in the woods? The Barker boys are dead-set on cracking the case even if it means putting themselves in harm's way. Here's the first book in an action-packed mystery series by a New York Times bestselling author.
Marvin lives with his family under the kitchen sink in the Pompadays' apartment. He is very much a beetle. James Pompaday lives with his family in New York City. He is very much an eleven-year-old boy.After James gets a pen-and-ink set for his birthday, Marvin surprises him by creating an elaborate miniature drawing. James gets all the credit for the picture and before these unlikely friends know it they are caught up in a staged art heist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that could help recover a famous drawing by Albrecht Dürer. But James can't go through with the plan without Marvin's help. And that's where things get really complicated (and interesting!). This fast-paced mystery will have young readers on the edge of their seats as they root for boy and beetle. In Shakespeare's Secret Elise Broach showed her keen ability to weave storytelling with history and suspense, and Masterpiece is yet another example of her talent. This time around it's an irresistible miniature world, fascinating art history, all wrapped up in a special friendship- something for everyone to enjoy.
This Junior Library Guild selection by Elise Broach is sure to become a favorite of all young sleuths. Sixth-grader Hero is captivated by the stories about her new home, especially the mystery of the missing million-dollar diamond and a 500-year-old necklace. As she searches for clues to their whereabouts she stumbles upon another perplexing question: Who was the real William Shakespeare?
