Agatha Awards- Best Children & Young Adult

Four Courageous Scouts Go for the Gold!

Thirteen-year-old Becca and her friends Sierra, CJ, and Jonnie are determined to win the gold medal for Troop 13 at the Gold Rush Jamboree. But they face stiff competition from the other troops—especially Troop 7, whose members love to pull pranks on them. When a mysterious clue hints at treasure buried in Camp Miwok's Haunted Caves, Becca and her friends are determined to get their hands on that, too—even if it means sneaking from camp, hanging out with bats, and being threatened by robbers....

After living in a series of far-flung countries-and finding more than his share of trouble along the way-Zeke Armstrong thought he would finally lead the life of a normal thirteen-year-old when he moved to Dallas and joined the Sundogs soccer team. Instead, he goes to the Lone Star Invitational tournament and soon find himself in the middle of another adventure when someone tries to take his coach out the game-permanently. Will Zeke solve the mystery and help his team win the playoff, or will he ber the next victim?

Wick had opened the door and was staring at the outside knob with an expression akin to fear and loathing. Tell me it's not another-- Four knots! Count them! Four knots looped around the knob like some kind of a-- Wick's voice broke. Miles patted his brother's shoulder. It's all right. We mustn't let these warnings get to us. We'd be playing right into their hands . . . whoever they might be. Jose's Durerbund, probably. Nobody else would use Albrecht's art as a symbol. And anyway, this is nowhere near to a noose knot. He knelt to inspect the configurations more closely. Quite interesting, actually. These are closer to something I read about once. I think they're called 'Turk's Head' knots. See how they look like little turbans? That must be really hard to do. Wick grabbed Miles and jerked him up. You are not supposed to be admiring these people! But a job well done in any endeavor-- Miles, Miles. Wick's grip tightened almost painfully. Yes? He let go. Get rid of that thing! You needn't shout. Miles carefully rearranged his jacket. Do you mind if I don't destroy the knot this time? I'd like to study it, see if I could make one of these myself. Wick stamped down the hall. I'll be outside. Don't bother locking anything. What's the point? What's the point of this entire exercise?"

Bestselling novelist Carl Hiaasen is back with another hysterical mystery adventure for young readers, set in the Florida Keys.
 
Noah's dad has a little problem with anger control. He tried to stop the Coral Queen casino boat's illegal dumping . . . by sinking the boat. But his bold protest fizzles: within days the casino is back in business, and Noah's dad is behind bars and out of action.
 
Now Noah is determined to succeed where his father failed. But even though pumping raw sewage into the waters of the Florida Keys is both gross and against the law, turns out it's near impossible to catch the flusher—especially when he's already bamboozled the prosecutors, the local press, and even the Coast Guard.
 
But Noah's got a few allies. There's his little sister, Abbey, an unreformed childhood biter; Lice Peeking, a half-soused ex-mate of the Coral Queen who is willing to testify . . . for a price; and Shelly, a bighearted bartender with even bigger biceps.
 
Okay, so the odds aren't good. But Noah has an ace up his sleeve—a plan so crazy it just might stop the polluting, save the beaches, and prove to the world that it's the owner of the Coral Queen, and not his dad, who is full of . . . crud.

To get into her brother Kelby's Northern Spy Club, Zoe Elwood must walk a narrow beam over rusted farm machinery, and then solve a crime. Her chance comes when Alice's grandmother expires after eating a bowl of pea soup. Kelby gives Zoe just five days to track down the poisoner. Can she do it?

Molly wishes she and her friend Emily had an exciting volunteer job that really helped in the fight to win World War Two. Instead, they're magazine delivery girls at Oak Knoll Hospital. Soon, however, Molly and Emily start to suspect that something very un-patriotic is going on at Oak Knoll--and their snooping leads them deep into trouble!

★ “A rip-roaring ghost story.”—Booklist, Starred

Zack, his dad, and new stepmother have just moved back to his father's hometown, not knowing that their new house has a dark history. Fifty years ago, a crazed killer caused an accident at the nearby crossroads that took 40 innocent lives. He died when his car hit a tree in a fiery crash, and his malevolent spirit has inhabited the tree ever since. During a huge storm, lightning hits the tree, releasing the spirit, who decides his evil spree isn't over . . . and Zack is directly in his sights.

Award-winning thriller author Chris Grabenstein fills his first book for younger readers with the same humorous and spine-tingling storytelling that has made him a fast favorite with adults.

How serious is stage fright? At the Hanging Hill Playhouse, it can kill you.

After narrowly escaping a malevolent spirit in The Crossroads, Zack and Judy are hoping to relax during the rehearsals for a show based on Judy's bestselling children's books. Little do they know that the director is planning to raise a horde of evil specters from the dead, and to accomplish this, he needs a human sacrifice . . . and Zack fits the bill perfectly.

This second book featuring the intrepid Zack and his stepmother, Judy, is full of the same humorous and spine-tingling storytelling that has made Chris Grabenstein a fast favorite with young and old alike.

Katie Mullens is known as the weird kid. Dead dad. Dead mom. Loner. Maybe crazy. Always drawing in her sketch pad, and she talks to herself—or at least that's what it looks like. But Katie is talking to real people…they're just dead. Law Walker is drawn to Katie when he sees the sketch she's made of a historic home—the way it looked before it burned. Law soon discovers that Katie's sight goes beyond death, and what she sees reveals the strange, twisted history of a famous Boston family's connection to the illegal post-emancipation slave trade.

Past, present. Living, dead. Black, white. This is a powerhouse debut about ugly histories, unlikely romances, and seeing people—alive and otherwise—for who they really are.

Halloween is near, the one day of the year when the ghostly plane is close enough to the human plane to allow mischief and mayhem. But the ghosts who have their eye on Zack aren't thinking mischief, they are thinking murder. 

In the fourth volume of Chris Grabenstein's popular Haunted Mysteries series, Zack must yet again do battle with malevolent spirits. And with perseverance and pluck, and the assistance of three dotty aunts, he must save his town from a 200-year-old threat.

Once again Chris Grabenstein proves his mastery of the frightening and funny tale. Young readers, especially reluctant ones, have been inspired to read by Grabenstein's quirky characters and deadly situations.

An infamous prison may hold a secret only the Code Busters can uncover

Cody, Quinn, Luke, and M.E. may all have different talents, but they share one thing in common: they love playing around with codes. In fact, they love codes so much, they have their own club, with a secret hideout and passwords that change every day.
When Cody and her friends get a mysterious e-mail hinting at a treasure on Alcatraz Island, they can't wait to get started on their clue hunt. Luckily, a class trip to the prison is the perfect cover to start their search.
 
During the tour, the club members learn that a jewel thief kept at Alcatraz may have hidden his biggest haul on the island and left a series of coded messages to find it. And solving puzzles is what the Code Busters do best!
 
This interactive mystery features more than fifteen codes and puzzles for you to decipher along with the Code Busters, including Morse code, the tap code, LEET, and zigzag code. Answers are in the back, if you ever get stuck.
 
For more code-breaking fun, visit CodeBustersClub.com and join the club!