New Releases by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Nine novels from a three-time Newbery Honor author whose “tales of wonder, mystery, and suspense beguiled two generations of children and young adults” (The New York Times). Blending realism and fantasy, Zilpha Keatley Snyder was a master at drawing young readers into mesmerizing worlds. Collected in one volume, here are some of her most memorable and beloved novels. TheVelvet Room explores ranch life for a child of a former migrant worker. Cat Running offers a unique glimpse into one girl’s experience when her family takes in a malnourished, barefooted “Okie” during the Depression In Song of the Gargoyle, thirteen-year-old Tymmon befriends a strange and enchanted forest creature. In The Trespassers, a boy and his sister discover a secret hideaway in a deserted mansion—and maybe a ghost. And in Fool’s Gold, a group of teens discover a map that leads them through dangerous, abandoned gold mines. This treasury is a perfect introduction to the novels of one of the most revered figures in children’s literature.

Nine novels—including The Changeling—from the three-time Newbery Honor author who “led young readers into the wondrous terrain between fantasy and reality” (The Washington Post). Blending realism and fantasy, Zilpha Keatley Snyder was a master at drawing young readers into mesmerizing worlds. Collected in one volume, here are nine of her most memorable and beloved novels. One of her best-known books, the Christopher Medal winner The Changeling, follows an unusual friendship between two suburban girls, one of whom may have supernatural abilities. Snyder’s debut novel, Season of Ponies, is a mystical fairy tale about a girl, a magic amulet, and one unforgettable summer. Take a journey through such extraordinary settings as a rumor-haunted valley in The Ghosts of Stone Hollow and a possessed department store in Eyes in the Fishbowl. Meet a girl who spies on a neighboring family to overcome her own grief in Spyhole Secrets and another who discovers she has inherited psychic power in The Magic Nation Thing. With stories and characters that continue to endure, Zilpha Keatley Snyder is one of the most revered figures in children’s literature. This ebook includes The Changeling, Black and Blue Magic, Season of Ponies, The Ghosts of Stone Hollow, Spyhole Secrets, The Birds of Summer, The Magic Nation Thing, Eyes in the Fishbowl, and The Unseen.

During the year that the Stanley family spends living near Florence, Amanda boasts once too often of her wealthy father in America and the result is a kidnapping involving all the Stanley children.

The Stanley kids and their stepsister try to keep secret a dog that Blair finds, keep David out of the clutches of the school bully, and find out if some escaped convicts really are nearby. Sequel to "The Famous Stanley Kidnapping Case."

DIVDIVNewbery Medal winner Zilpha Keatley Snyder delves into the paranormal in this story of a teenage boy who makes an extraordinary discovery/divDIV The whole thing started six years ago when Dion James was around eight or nine. He got a shoe-shining gig on the corner of Palm and Eighth, outside the big glass-and-bronze doors of Alcott-Simpson’s department store. With his unruly hair and bad limp from polio, Dion looked like a refugee. Envisioning himself one day working at Alcott-Simpson’s, he cleans up his act and starts dressing better. /divDIV Fourteen-year-old Dion still dreams of working at the luxury department store when he sees a girl with big black eyes and long black hair pursued by store detectives for stealing a sweater. A few days later, Dion is in the store when he hears a scream, and all hell breaks loose. Locked in after the store empties out, Dion sees a familiar figure: the sweater thief. Her name is Sara, and soon she and Dion are eyewitnesses to a bizarre series of events that have no rational explanation./divDIV Who is Sara? And why is there a pair of eyes in the mink-lined fishbowl?/divDIV This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div/div

DIVDIVWho stole the buried treasure?/divDIV Carlos Garcia, Eddy Wong, and Bucky Brockhurst are building a brand-new private clubhouse when they stumble upon buried treasure. No sooner have they hauled the old metal box out of the ground than Bucky’s irritating kid sister, Muffy, shows up and tells him he has to come home./divDIV Left alone with the box, Carlos and Eddy manage to pry it open. It’s filled with hundreds of gold coins! Knowing Bucky will be furious that they opened it without him, the boys dump it back into the ground. But when the fifth graders return later that night to dig it up again, all they find is an old bone./divDIV What happened to the treasure? And who buried the bone? Was it Lump, the Garcias’ enormous Saint Bernard? Susie Garcia, Athena Pappas, and Muffy Brockhurst (the meanest girl in school) also want to know. As the search for the box heats up, turning everyone against one another, will the three PROs lose the treasure—and their friendship?/divDIV This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div/div

DIVDIVFifteen-year-old James has just discovered the magnificence of nature—but can he protect it from the phoniness of the material world?/divDIV When his academic-minded parents decide to forsake civilization for a wilderness summer in the Sierra Nevada mountains, James Fielding figures he’ll be counting the minutes until it’s over. But in the woods one day, he comes upon a magnificent deer and becomes fascinated by its majesty and beauty. Then he meets two very different girls. Thirteen-year-old Griffin Donahue is “pure and free and beautiful.” Diane Jarrett is a tanned, “hot-pink-bikinied” goddess. Griffin is at one with nature. Diane is slumming at the nearby exclusive camp, with its decadent luxury and A-list guests. When these two worlds collide, threatening the existence of the stag, James embarks on a quest to find a friend who’s gone missing—and to save a life./divDIV This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div/div

DIVDIVSummer is just a teenager, but sometimes she feels like the parent/divDIV Fifteen-year-old Summer McIntyre lives with her mother, Oriole, and seven-year-old sister, Sparrow, in a trailer in Alvarro Bay City, overlooking the Pacific. Oriole is a Northern California flower child who fantasizes about being at one with nature and forgets about needing money. Even though she’s only fifteen, Summer is good at being Mom./divDIV That is, until Oriole’s new boyfriend upsets the precarious balance in their lives. Suddenly Summer has to protect her family as she copes with the dangers of drug-smuggling, blackmailing, and even terrorism./divDIV Set during the 1980s, The Birds of Summer is the story of a teenager with the responsibilities of adulthood thrust upon her shoulders, who learns how to adapt . . . and how to survive. Winner of the PEN Literary Award and the Parents’ Choice Award./divDIV This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div/div

From three-time Newbery Medal winner Zilpha Keatley Snyder comes the story of three desperate kids who just want to run away Dani O’Donnell hates the dusty desert town of Rattler Springs and the ramshackle cabin where she lives with her widowed mother. On the eve of her thirteenth birthday, Dani hatches a plan to run away and return home to Sea Grove, California, with its palm trees and ocean breezes. But her scheme gets complicated when Stormy Arigotti, a dyslexic nine-year-old, decides he wants in. As if that weren’t enough, a big-city family just set up shop on the rundown ranch Dani’s mother inherited from her husband—and the daughter, Pixie Smithson, wants to join the runaway group. Pixie’s the strangest girl Dani has ever met, but now they have to think about practical things, like raising money for three bus tickets. For Dani, Stormy, and Pixie, running away might not turn out to be the great adventure they envisioned. This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

DIVDIVEleven-year-old Matt comes face to face with his town’s haunted past/divDIV Matthew Hamilton—a.k.a. the Hamster—and his family recently moved to Timber City. More of a loner than his older brother and sister, Matt gets lost when he wanders away from the town’s annual July Fourth picnic into nearby Rathburn Park. He is rescued by a white mutt with shaggy hair and pointed ears. Matt follows him into a clearing, but the dog vanishes./divDIV According to legend, Rathburn Park is haunted. Weirded out by his experience but unable to stay away, Matt returns to the ruins. In a burned-out church, a girl in a hat and old-fashioned ruffled dress appears. She warns him to leave if he wants to stay alive. Her name is Amelia Rathburn. But when Matt looks her up, he discovers that she is one hundred years old./divDIV Is Amelia a ghost from the past? Or someone a lot more human? The truth is stranger than Matt could ever imagine./divDIV This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div/div

DIVDIVAfter her father dies, a lonely eleven-year-old finds a solution to her grief when she discovers a secret window into another life/divDIV Hallie Meredith is furious with God. First, her adored father died in a car accident. As if that weren’t horrible enough, Hallie had to move away, leaving school and all her friends behind. Now she and her mother live in a cramped apartment in a stuffy old mansion. The only bright spot is the crack in a boarded-up window in the attic that gives Hallie an unobstructed view of the apartment in the building next door. Hallie knows she shouldn’t be up there—the attic is forbidden territory. And she shouldn’t be spying on the beautiful teenage girl with the long blond hair who seems so tragic (and whom Hallie christens “Rapunzel”). And there’s Rapunzel’s kid brother and their father, who seems unnaturally strict. Morphing into an amateur spy, Hallie is determined to solve the mysteries of this other family. But is the truth about the people next door different from how it appears?/divDIV This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./divDIV/div/div

Three-time Newbery Honor winner Zilpha Keatley Snyder combines a cast of quirky characters with an eerie old mansion to create a spellbinding tale of mystery and magic. Harleigh J. Weatherby IV feels misunderstood. At age twelve he is about as tall as a six-year-old, and no one lets him forget it. At school the bullies nicknamed him “Hardly.” Now he is homeschooled at the Weatherby mansion, where strict Aunt Adelaide is always on his case about something. Then Harleigh meets Allegra. When she literally flies over the walls of Weatherby and into Harleigh’s life, the two form an unlikely friendship. Allegra is fascinated by the enormous Weatherby mansion, and against Harleigh’s orders, sneaks inside. Together they discover that someone is trying to find—and steal—the long-lost Weatherby treasure. Will Harleigh and Allegra be able to foil the villain and save Weatherby House?

The kids from The Egypt Game are back. What game will they play next? The answer is Gypsies. While April plunges in with her usual enthusiasm, the more Melanie learns, the more something seems to be holding her back. But it''s Toby who adds a really new wrinkle when he announces that he himself is a bona fide Gypsy. Plus he can get them some of his grandmother''s things to use as real Gypsy props for the new game. What could be more thrilling? Then Toby suddenly and mysteriously disappears, and the kids discover that living as real-life Gypsies may not be as much fun as they thought. How will they find Toby and rescue him from the very real problems that are haunting his life?

DIVHalcyon House has everything: a beautiful location, incredible amenities, and life-threatening danger/divDIV In the beautiful Northern California coastal town of Monterey, Halcyon House is exactly the kind of place that any kid would want to explore. It’s huge, abandoned, and— rumor has it—haunted. Neely and her little brother, Grub, are determined to get inside. The two siblings climb through an open window and find an old nursery, filled with old toys and, possibly, a ghost./divDIV /divDIVThe siblings’ trespassing ends, however, when the mysterious Hutchinson family arrives and reclaims the house. Neely and Grub should be in trouble, but instead Curtis Hutchinson welcomes the siblings in with open arms. But as Neely spends more time at Halcyon House, she realizes that this mansion and its inhabitants are far more dangerous than she could have possibly imagined./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div

In this “vividly drawn fantasy” from the Newbery Honoree, the trees of Green-sky are peaceful, while Teera struggles to survive below the forest floor (Publishers Weekly). While the Kindar thrive in the leafy utopia of Green-sky, the Erdlings struggle to survive in their underground caves and tunnels. Hunger threatens, and Teera, an eight-year-old Erdling, is forced to run away before her pet, Haba, is killed for food. Once away, Teera finds her way to the beautiful forest floor, where the sights are breathtaking and the food is abundant. There, she meets the friendly Ol-zhaan Raamo and Neric. Teera and her new Ol-zhaan friends want to reveal the truth about life above and below the trees, but powerful forces are at work to ensure that the two worlds remain apart. This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

DIVFinding a special place where you can be at peace is difficult—but holding onto it is even harder/divDIV The last three years of Robin Williams’s life have been very difficult. She’s had to move with her large, poor family multiple times as her father seeks jobs as a migrant worker. Now, her father has a new job at the McCurdy Ranch and Robin often wanders off in order to cope with the constant change and difficulty surrounding her./divDIV /divDIVNear the McCurdy Ranch is the Palmeras House, an old abandoned house that Robin is told repeatedly not to explore. However, with a little help, she finds herself inside the building, in the one place it seems she has always been looking for: the Velvet Room. This plush room is the most beautiful place she has ever seen. Robin is fascinated and enchanted, but she can’t help but wonder: Why is it there? /divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div

The first novel from three-time Newbery Honor–winning writer Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s: a mystical fairytale about a girl, a magic amulet, and one unforgettable summer Life is difficult for Pamela. She usually lives with her two aunts because her father is always traveling for work. But this summer, Pamela’s father has promised to take her away with him. On the day of their departure, however, he breaks his promise. Instead, he leaves Pamela an amulet engraved with mysterious lettering that he claims has magical properties. Pamela is skeptical, but things change quickly when the necklace summons a rainbow-colored herd of ponies. With them is a wild boy known only as Ponyboy, who lives with ponies and charms them. What was once destined to be the most boring summer imaginable becomes one that Pamela will never forget. This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

DIVGib might have finally found the family he’s always wanted. Will he be adopted for good?/divDIV No child wants an extended stay in the Lovell House Home for Orphaned and Abandoned Boys. And in the sequel to Gib Rides Home, Gib, a smart, resourceful eleven-year-old orphan, returns to the Thornton family’s ranch, hoping for a much happier experience this time. Instead of the farm labor that most orphans his age are forced to do, he gets the benefits of being part of the family: reduced chores and the freedom to go to school./divDIV /divDIVLuckily, Gib also has a way with horses—and life with Livy, the irrepressible Thornton daughter, proves that horses can be much easier to deal with than people. When a whipped and starved horse comes to the Thornton Ranch during a blizzard, Gib finds a way to save this incredible creature. And while helping the horse recuperate and acclimate to his new home, Gib realizes that he may have finally found a permanent home of his own./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div

DIVTymmon was thrown out of his kingdom, and has to make his way in the world, but unexpected help from a singing gargoyle will certainly make that easier/divDIV In one night, Tymmon’s life is turned upside down. His father, the beloved court jester of Austernerve, is kidnapped in a night raid. Tymmon escapes his father’s fate but must find shelter in the dark, deep, and dangerous Sombrous Forest. /divDIV /divDIVThere, he meets another kind of outcast: Troff, a fearsome-looking dog-like gargoyle with an unexpectedly gorgeous singing voice. Together, the two form a great duo: Tymmon plays the flute while Troff sings. They take their act around the kingdom, until a chance encounter with a mysterious old man gives the two an opportunity to save Tymmon’s father, and change Tymmon’s life forever./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div

DIVAll Gib ever wanted was to be adopted, but life with a family isn’t quite what he thought it would be/divDIV Gib was sent to an orphanage when he was six years old, and with each year, he knows it becomes less likely that he will be adopted into a loving family. As kids get older, they are more likely to be adopted onto a farm, meaning a hard life of unpaid labor. And after seeing a friend come back battered and near death, Gib is understandably worried./divDIV /divDIVWhen his turn for adoption finally comes, Gib is surprised to learn that life on the farm isn’t too difficult. His new “parents,” the Thorntons, are kind to him, and his job in the stables is fun and interesting. It is as close to the home of his dreams as he could possibly imagine. And though Gib doesn’t remember much of his past before the orphanage, as time passes, Gib realizes that his new family may be more connected to his real family than he ever imagined. This smart, touching novel is based on the life of author Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s father and his experience as an orphan in the 1900s./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div

The first time Melanie Ross meets April Hall, she’s not sure they have anything in common. But she soon discovers that they both love anything to do with ancient Egypt. When they stumble upon a deserted storage yard, Melanie and April decide it’s the perfect spot for the Egypt Game. Before long there are six Egyptians, and they all meet to wear costumes, hold ceremonies, and work on their secret code. Everyone thinks it’s just a game until strange things start happening. Has the Egypt Game gone too far?

Cats. Jessica’s never liked them. Especially not a skinny, ugly kitten that looks like a worm. Worm. Jessica wishes she’d never brought Worm home with her, because now he’s making her do terrible things. She’s sure she isn’t imagining the evil voice coming from the cat, telling her to play mean tricks on people. But how can she explain what’s happening? Witches. Jessica has read enough books to know that Worm must be a witch’s cat. He’s cast a spell on her, but whom can she turn to? After all, no one will believe that Worm has bewitched her...or worse!

When the four Stanley children meet Amanda, their new stepsister, they’re amazed to learn that she studies witchcraft. They’re stunned to see her dressed in a strange costume, carrying a pet crow and surrounded by a pile of books about the supernatural. It’s not long before Amanda promises to give witchcraft lessons to David, Jamie, and the twins. But that’s when strange things start happening in their old house. David suspects Amanda of causing mischief, until they learn that the house really was haunted long ago. Legend has it that a ghost cut the head off of a wooden cupid on the stairway. Has the ghost returned to strike again?

William S. and the Great Escape is a middle-grade adventure from multiple-Newbery Honor-winning author Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

Twelve-year-old Audrey Abbott dreams of becoming a writer, but with her father''s failing health and the family''s shaky finances, it seems there is no room for what her overworked mother would surely call a childish fantasy. So Audrey keeps her writing a secret. That is, until she meets a mysterious old woman who seems able to read her mind. Audrey is surprised at how readily she reveals her secret to the woman. One day the old woman gives Audrey a peculiar bronze pen and tells her to "use it wisely and to good purpose." It turns out to be just perfect for writing her stories with. But as Audrey writes, odd things start happening. Did Beowulf, her dog, just speak to her? And what is that bumping under her bed at night? It seems that whatever she writes with the pen comes true. However, things don''t always happen in the way that she wants or expects. In fact, it''s quite difficult to predict what writing with the pen will do. Could the pen be more of a curse than a gift? Or will Audrey be able to rewrite the future in the way that she wishes---and save her father''s life?

The year Carly turns eleven, 1907, is filled with playing detective, watching condors, observing a fierce feud involving her family''s Southern California ranch, and coping with unexpected tragedies.

A shepherd boy braves the evil magic of a wizard''s maze to save his pet lamb.

Stacy, age thirteen, and Marc, age twelve, visit their newly retired Jewish grandparents in their Florida condominium, where the restrictive rules stir them to rebel.

Ivy Carson belonged to the notorious Carson family which lived, from time to time, in a rundown house on the outskirts of Rosewood, California - moving out whenever the police or the debt-collectors got too close. But Ivy wasn''t like the other Carsons. Martha Abbott, who came from a well-run, affectionate home, was frightened by a great many things when she was small, and the Carsons frightened he more than most; but Ivy didn''t scare her a bit. Ivy was different. I''m really a changeling, Ivy said, quite casually. A changeling, according to Ivy, was the child of magic creatures - a witch''s baby, or maybe a troll''s - exchanged for a human baby during the first hours of life. Martha was fascinated by the idea, and watching Ivy slide down their tree-rope, spinning in and out of shadow and sunlight, she didn''t doubt it for a moment. That first meeting took place when Ivy and Martha were still small, and in spite of the Abbott family''s disapproval, in spite of the way the Carsons disappeared for years at a time, their friendship was to last right through, from eight to fifteen and beyond. The times when Ivy was around were special for Martha, exciting and alive despite the trouble their friendship sometimes brought - for Rosewood wasn''t a good place top be different in. What they gave her was worth any amount of sniping.