Meet Toaff: a lovable squirrel, and new standout character, searching for a place to call home in this gem of a story by a Newbery Medal-winning author.
Toaff is a small squirrel full of big questions. Why must I stay away from the human's house? Why shouldn't I go beyond the pine trees? Why do we fight with the red squirrels across the drive? His sister shrugs--that's just the way things are. His brother bullies--because I said so. And the older squirrels scold--too many questions! Can Toaff really be the only one to wonder why?
When a winter storm separates him from his family, Toaff must make his own way in the world. It's a world filled with danger--from foxes and hawks and cats to cars and chainsaws. But also filled with delight--the dizzying scent of apple blossoms, the silvery sound of singing, the joy of leaping so far you're practically flying. Over the course of a year, Toaff will move into (and out of) many different dreys and dens, make some very surprising friends (and a few enemies), and begin to answer his biggest questions--what do I believe and where do I belong?
Master storyteller Cynthia Voigt offers readers a rich and rewarding story of finding one's way in the world.
In Act III of Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt's Mister Max trilogy, the solutioneer sets off to rescue his missing parents!
Ever since Max's parents were spirited away on a mysterious ship, he has longed to find them.
He's solved case after case for other people in his business as "solutioneer." And he's puzzled out the coded messages sent by his father. He doesn't know exactly what's happened, but he knows his parents are in danger-and it's up to Max to save them.
Max and his friends (and a few old foes) don disguises and set sail on a rescue mission. It will take all of Max's cleverness and daring to outmaneuver the villains that lie in wait: power-hungry aristocrats, snake-handling assassins, and bombardier pastry chefs.
And behind the scenes, a master solutioneer is pulling all the strings.... Has Max finally met his match?
"Immensely appealing." -The New York Times Book Review
"A perfect read-aloud, the story will appeal to fans of fantasy, adventure, mystery, and humor." -The Christian Science Monitor
From Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt, Book II in the exciting adventures of Mister Max—12-year-old detective in disguise.
In Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things, Max Starling proved that he is more than a detective, he’s a Solutioneer. His reputation for problem-solving has been spreading—and now even the mayor wants his help.
Someone is breaking windows and setting fires in the old city, but the shopkeepers won’t say a word about the culprits. Why are they keeping these thugs’ secrets?
When the mayor begs for help, Max agrees to take the case, putting himself in grave danger. It’s a race to catch up with the vandals before they catch him.
Meanwhile, Max is protecting secrets of his own. His parents are still missing, and the cryptic messages he gets from them make it clear—it’s going to be up to Max to rescue them.
Can the Solutioneer handle cases this big?
Praise for Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things
“An endearing, memorable protagonist and a clever plot make this a winner.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred
Angus is black and white and strong.
Sadie is reddish brown and white and small.
"They don't look much alike," says Missus.
"They don't act much alike," says Mister.
Angus and Sadie are brother and sister. Angus is bigger. He is a good, brave, and clever dog -- and he likes that. Sadie isn't as quick to learn -- or to obey. When cats jump at her, she yelps and runs away. Angus thinks that means she's scared of everything. But Sadie isn't so sure that's true.
Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt's story of border collie puppies growing up on a farm in Maine is for animal lovers of all ages, and for anyone who's ever had--or wondered what it would be like to have--a brother or sister just like themselves, but very, very different.
Newbery medalist Cynthia Voigt presents a rollicking mystery in three acts!
Max's parents are missing. They are actors, and thus unpredictable, but sailing away, leaving Max with only a cryptic note, is unusual even for them. Did they intend to leave him behind? Have they been kidnapped?
Until he can figure it out, Max feels it's safer to keep a low profile. Hiding out is no problem for a child of the theater. Max has played many roles, he can be whoever he needs to be to blend in. But finding a job is tricky, no matter what costume he dons.
Ironically, it turns out Max has a talent for finding things. He finds a runaway child, a stray dog, a missing heirloom, a lost love. . . . So is he a finder? A detective? No, it's more. Max finds a way to solve people's problems he engineers better outcomes for them. He becomes Mister Max, Solutioneer.
Now if only he could find a solution to his own problems . . .
From the Hardcover edition.
Cynthia Voigt crafts a novel about discovery, perspective, and the meaning of home all through the eyes of an affable and worried little mouse. Fredle is an earnest young fellow suddenly cast out of his cozy home behind the kitchen cabinets into the outside. It's a new world of color and texture and grass and sky. But with all that comes snakes and rain and lawnmowers and raccoons and a different sort of mouse (field mice, they're called) not entirely trustworthy. Do the dangers outweigh the thrill of discovery? Fredle's quest to get back inside soon becomes a wild adventure of predators and allies, of color and sound, of discovery and nostalgia. And, as Fredle himself will come to understand, of freedom.From the Hardcover edition.
A NEWBERRY MEDAL WINNERKeeping her family together is what thirteen-year-old Dicey does best. But now that all four Tillerman children have found a new home with their grandmother, Dicey has to learn the hard lesson of letting go. Dicey's got other problems than finding her new role in the family: she's bored with everyone and everything at school and doesn't think anyone can tell her anything she wants to know. But slowly, Dicey discovers that everyone has something to teach, and life is a lesson that doesn't get easier . . . From the Paperback edition.
On Saturday morning, 13-year-old Dicey Tillerman sits in the car at the shopping mall with her younger sister and two brothers. Momma had said, "You be good." Then she walked away. They wait for a day and a night, but Momma never comes back. Finally, Dicey decides the children should go to Bridgeport, Connecticut where Aunt Cilla lives. Maybe Momma is waiting for them there. But they don't have enough money to take the bus.
Determined to keep the family together, Dicey sets off on foot with her siblings in search of Aunt Cilla. Soon, she discovers that finding a home and making one aren't always the same thing. Newbery Award-winning author Cynthia Voigt has captured the hearts of millions of young adults with her poignant tale of a young girl struggling with adult responsibilities. With her glowing narration, Barbara Caruso vividly brings to life each exciting adventure the children experience as they travel in search of a place to call home.
"I looked over the edge of the ravine to see somebody there, helpless, barely moving. She lifted her head to look at me and I fled, stumbling, back to my room in Mr. Thiel's house. Something had followed me there. Something, somebody, tall and dark, wrapped in a cloak, able to move soundlessly through the house."-from The Callender Papers Jean Wainwright, ward of Wainwright Academy's strict but affectionate headmistress, Miss Constance, was quite unprepared for the strange happenings of that memorable summer, 1894. The school's most generous patron, Mr. Daniel Thiel, had written requesting that a young girl be sent from the school to his home in Marlborough. The lucky girl was to spend the summer sorting through the memorabilia associated with Thiel's late wife Irene, and her wealthy family, the Callenders. Jean, fascinated by the stories her aunt has told her about the flamboyant Callender family, accepts the challenge. But she takes an immediate dislike to her sullen new employer and is certain he is hiding something. Think carefully has been the guiding principle of Jean's upbringing. But is careful thought enough to protect her from the hidden secrets in the Callender Papers?
