New Releases by Cynthia Defelice

A summer outdoor middle grade adventure novel from award-winning author Cynthia DeFelice, about two boys who build an awesome fort and tangle with bullies. Eleven-year-old Wyatt and his friend Augie aren''t looking for a fight. They''re having the best summer of their lives hanging out in the fort they built in the woods, fishing and hunting, cooking over a campfire, and sleeping out. But when two older boys mess with the fort—and with another kid who can''t fight back—the friends are forced to launch Operation Doom, with unexpected results for all concerned, in this novel about two funny and very real young heroes. Fort is a thrilling story about friendship, revenge, and standing up for yourself, even when you think you''re outmatched. It''s going to be one summer these boys will never forget.

In Bringing Ezra Back, Nathan Fowler returns to rescue his friend who helped him escape danger in this action-packed sequel to Cynthia DeFelice''s beloved Weasel. September 1840 marks five months since twelve-year-old Nathan Fowler''s life-threatening encounter with Weasel, the heartless man who stalked Nathan like a wild animal through the forest. Nathan hasn''t been the same since, wary of every new person he meets - including the visiting peddler Orrin Beckwith. When Beckwith shows Nate and his family a handbill advertising a show with a "white Injun," a man without a tongue, Nathan is sure the man is his friend Ezra, who lost his tongue to Weasel''s knife. Determined to save Ezra from this traveling show of "human oddities," Nathan sets out with Beckwith from Ohio to Pennsylvania. On the way, Nathan encounters more people than he''s ever met before, and he begins to learn a thing or two about human nature. The biggest shock, however, is Ezra himself, and it will take more than Nathan bargained for to bring him back home.

Nelly May Nimble and her twelve brothers and sisters live with their parents in a tiny cottage in the Bottoms, where there''s never enough food to feed so many hungry mouths. Nelly May decides that she is old enough to earn her keep and takes a job as Lord Ignasius Pinkwinkle''s new housekeeper and cook. Along with her many chores, Lord Pinkwinkle also expects Nelly May to learn his own special language. So Nelly May gets to work, using a wet scooperooty to hold the water she mops the floor with and then cooking supper for him, the Most Excellent of All Masters. But late that night, when a spark from the flaming-pop-and-sizzle lands on the fur-faced-fluffenbarker''s wigger-wagger, Nelly May puts her foot down. She''ll save his roof-topped castleorum, but she will not be his fuzzy-dust-and-fooder any longer. In Nelly May Has Her Say, Cynthia DeFelice and Henry Cole team up for a fun-filled romp that makes a great read aloud. A Margaret Ferguson Book

The sequel to Devil''s Bridge At thirteen, Ben Daggett, a Martha''s Vineyard local, takes a summer job as first mate on a charter boat and plans to spend the July Fourth weekend helping to entertain tourists. On his first day out, Ben spots a strange object in the water -- a red Porsche. Then he learns that the driver is missing! Donny, a cool sixteen-year-old, admits to having submerged the car -- but nothing more. Also a native, Donny resents the rich tourists, and even steals from them. Despite Donny''s transgressions, Ben would give anything to hang out with him. Unfortunately, he gives too much, and ends up involved in drug dealing and maybe murder, and with full understanding of Donny''s role in at least one of these crimes. Should he tell on Donny? In Cynthia DeFelice''s exciting new adventure novel, the hero faces up to his own weakness and struggles to decide what to do about his friend.

The third book about "ghost magnet" Allie Nichols, age 11, who this time is contacted by the restless spirit of a dog. Once again, she shares her ghostly adventure with her best friend, Dub, in this chilling installment, The Ghost of Cutler Creek. Allie Nichols has hardly laid the last spirit to rest when she''s sure that another one is trying to reach her. But how can Allie help a ghost who won''t speak? All she has to go on is a sound—a sort of whine—and a smell. At the same time, a strange boy joins her sixth-grade class. Allie doesn''t understand why L. J. Cutler would start a new school at the end of the year, or why he''s such a surly kid. She wants nothing to do with him. Then Mr. Henry, a teacher she loves, asks Allie to dog-sit Hoover, his golden retriever, while he''s away and to befriend L.J. over the summer. She''s delighted to spend time with Hoover, but she hardly looks forward to visiting L. J. Cutler—until she discovers a connection between L.J., the ghost, and Hoover. “As always, DeFelice tells a gripping, suspenseful story, keeping readers engaged with realistically depicted human as well as animal characters.” —The Horn Book

The second mystery solved by Allie Nichols, "ghost magnet", from author Cynthia DeFelice, author of The Ghost of Fossil Glen Just a few short weeks ago, sixth-grader Allie Nichols realized that she must be some kind of ghost magnet when she met the spirit of a murdered girl. Now, a new ghost has appeared to her, a handsome young man, and he''s pointed her in the direction of her creepy cafeteria lady, Mrs. Hobbs. Allie has always suspected Mrs. Hobbs of something, and this just confirms it. So do the mysterious fires that keep breaking out every time Allie tries to investigate her. Surely Mrs. Hobbs isn''t going to kill her. Or is she? “Another dangerously thrilling supernatural adventure . . . A diverting and suspenseful ghost story offering a likeable protagonist and a thrilling romantic spark.” —The Horn Book

From beloved author Cynthia DeFelice, The Ghost of Fossil Glen marks the first installment in this gripping middle grade series featuring sixth-grader and ghost magnet Allie Nichols, who solves mysteries with the help of her friend Dub. Allie Nichols knows she''s being pursued by a ghost. But her friend Karen calls her a liar and doesn''t want to hear "stuff like that." It is Allie''s old pal Dub who listens eagerly as Allie tells him about a voice that guides her safely down a steep cliff side, the face in her mind''s eye of a girl who begs "Help me," and a terrible nightmare in which that girl falls to her death. Who is the girl? Is she the ghost? And what does the ghost want from Allie? As Allie discovers that her role is to avenge a murder, she also learns something about friendship, false and true, in this chilling tale from bestselling author Cynthia DeFelice.

One day while running on the trail near his house in upstate New York, Owen McGuire meets a girl with startling green eyes and bloody cuts all over her body who seems to be utterly alone. Her name is Campion, after the wildflower that is an alien species in the area—alien meaning "from someplace else"—and Campion claims to come from someplace else entirely, a planet called Home. She plans to signal her parents to come pick her up in their spaceship. Owen agrees to help, and as he does, he feels happier than he has in a long time: his mother died a year and a half ago, and now he and his workaholic father live together like two planets on separate orbits, in a new house far from his friends. What will he do when Campion asks him to come with her into outer space, away from his lonely life on Earth? In this moving novel, two friendless kids search the night sky for something to believe in—but discover that they''ve found what they need right here on Earth.

Allie Nichols, "Ghost Magnet," has only just finished sixth grade, but already she''s grappled with her fair share of adventure: three ghosts have sought her help in less than two months. Now that summer has finally arrived, Allie is ready for a break. Too bad ghosts don''t know about summer vacation. When a new spirit causes Allie to babble incomprehensibly at rehearsals for her town''s first pageant, she and her best friend, Dub, know they have another ghostly mystery to solve. But why does the ghost seem so interested in the pageant, which portrays the relationship between the area''s early European settlers and the local Seneca Indians? And could its manifestation have anything to do with the rich girl who just came to town with her family? In the fourth fascinating ghost book by Cynthia DeFelice, Allie and Dub uncover a centuries-old secret—the destruction of a Seneca village at Poplar Point—and come up with a plan to share it.

After his family dies of consumption in 1849, twelve-year-old Lucas becomes a doctor''s apprentice in this award-winning chapter book from beloved author Cynthia DeFelice, The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker. It''s 1849, and twelve-year-old, Lucas Whitaker is all alone after his whole family dies of a disease called consumption which has swept through the community. Lucas is grief-stricken and filled with guilt. He might have saved his mother, who was the last to die, if only he had listened to news of a strange cure for this deadly disease. Unable to manage the family farm by himself, Lucas finds work as an apprentice to Doc Beecher, doctor, dentist, barber and undertaker. Doc amputates a leg as easily as he pulls a tooth, yet when it comes to consumption, he remains powerless, unwilling to try the cure he calls nonsense. Lucas can''t accept Doc''s disbelief, and he joins others in the dark ritual they believe is their only hope. The startling results teach Lucas a great deal about fear, desperation, and the scientific reasoning that offers hope for a true cure. The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker is a Bank Street - Best Children''s Book of the Year.

Mr. and Mrs. O’Grady are so poor they have just one of everything to share – one potato a day, one chair, one blanket full of holes, and one gold coin for a rainy day. After digging up the last potato in their patch, Mr. O’Grady comes upon a big black object. It’s a pot – no ordinary pot, for what they soon discover is that whatever goes into it comes out doubled! Suddenly the O’Gradys aren’t destitute anymore. But what they really long for is one friend apiece. Can the magic pot give them that? This retelling of a Chinese folktale pays tribute to the author’s Irish heritage, and to the joys of an old marriage, new friendships, and the impulse to share. Using pen and gouache, the artist shows the “simple” characters in all their winning complexity. One Potato, Two Potato is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children''s Book of the Year.

A teenager discovers racism and romance on his father''s farm in author Cynthia DeFelice''s Under the Same Sky. For his fourteenth birthday, Joe Pedersen wants a motorbike that costs nearly a thousand dollars. But his mom says the usual birthday gift is fifty dollars, and his dad wants Joe to earn the rest of the money himself and "find out what a real day''s work feels like." Angry that his father doesn''t think he''s up to the job, Joe joins the Mexican laborers who come to his father''s farm each summer. Manuel, the crew boss, is only sixteen, yet highly regarded by the other workers and the Pedersen family. Joe''s resentment grows when his father treats Manuel as an equal. Compared with Manuel, Joe knows nothing about planting and hoeing cabbage and picking strawberries. But he toughs out the long, grueling days in the hot sun, determined not only to make money but to gain the respect of his stern, hardworking father. Joe soon learns about the problems and fears the Mexicans live with every day, and, before long, thanks to Manuel, his beautiful cousin Luisa, and the rest of the crew, Joe comes to see the world in a whole different way. In her sensitive novel, Cynthia DeFelice explores our dependency on migrant workers and simultaneous reluctance to let these people into our country and into our lives. Under the Same Sky is a Bank Street - Best Children''s Book of the Year.

After a thief steals Old Granny''s beans while she is asleep at night, she gets some surprising help with catching him from a talking snake, a cow patty, a prickly pear cactus, and others, in a humorous tale that glows with the bold colors of the Southwest.

A little girl discovers her true identity Dulcie Campbell knows she''s a princess. The woman with old bunny slippers can''t be her real mother. The man with scratchy whiskers isn''t her real father. The boy who teases her isn''t her real brother. And the dog who sniffs her isn''t hers, either. Dulcie sets out to live the life she was born for. "Take a warm jacket!" calls the woman. "Don''t forget your book!" calls the man. "I thought you said you were leaving!" shouts the boy. The dog drools. Off to the barn (the royal palace) goes Dulcie, where she perches on a bale of hay (her throne) to wait for things to right themselves. Then she opens her book of fairy tales and learns that the life of a princess isn''t all that she''s dreamed - and that the one she''s been living may not be so bad after all. Wry, funny, and utterly charming, Cynthia DeFelice''s story is pictured to perfection by R. W. Alley.

When her father kills himself after losing his money in the stock market crash of 1929, twelve-year-old Frances, now a penniless orphan decides to hop abroad a freight train and live the life of a hobo.

Casey''s bathtub becomes another world! Cynthia DeFelice''s Casey in the Bath first appeared in Cricket magazine and is one of her most popular stories -- asked for again and again by children who know her as a professional storyteller. Now, for the first time, the story appears in picture book format with lively illustrations by Chris L. Demarest. Casey, a reluctant bather, finds himself with no soap except a bottle of green bath gel that his mother bought that morning from an odd salesman. Squirting out the gel, Casey discovers that it produces green bubbles that turn into green playmates. Casey has a blast with them! By the time he runs out of the gel, the salesman returns with purple toothpaste and the guarantee of even more fun in this lark about the joys of keeping clean -- and of using the imagination.

Jessie, an elderly calligrapher who writes announcements and notices of birth, marriage, and death for the townsfolk, discovers that she has the ability to predict the future in her writings.

In the early 1900s, thirteen-year-old Tyler encounters vicious hunters whose actions threaten to destroy the Everglades ecosystem, and as a result joins the battle to protect that fragile environment.

When she investigates the mysterious light up on Hogback Hill, eleven-year-old Hadley finds and befriends a hunchbacked old woman with a tragic past.

The name has haunted my sleep and made my awake hours uneasy for as long as I can remember. Other children whisper that he is part man and part animal -- wild and blood-thirsty. But I know Weasel is real: a man, an Indian fighter the government sent to drive off the Indians -- to "remove them." Weasel has his own ideas about removal... Now that the Shawnees are dead or have left, Weasel has turned on the settlers. Like his namesake, the weasel, he hunts by night and sleeps by day, and he kills not because he is hungry, but for the sport of it...I know what I have to do. Weasel is out there. He could come here and hurt us. Maybe Pa can wait for the day when we''ll have the law to take care of men like Weasel. But I can''t...