The same kids from The Egypt Game decide to create a new game that involves gypsies. Before they can really get into the game, one of the group members, Toby, disappears. The friends soon discover that Toby has had some sort of family problems and has run away. The gypsy game gets set aside while they work to help Toby and his father.
This is the sequel to The Egypt Game and received a starred review in Publishers Weekly. Any child that enjoyed the characters from The Egypt Game, will want to read a second book about them.
Two siblings, Neely and Grub sneak into an open window of an old abandoned mansion near their own house. Not a lot is known about the old inhabitants of the mansion, except they were extremely wealthy and tragedy struck them. Neely and Grub continue to sneak in over a span of months. Then the heirs to the house return and tragedy almost strikes again.
This book was a Junior Library Guild selection as well as the Children�s Book of the Month club selection in April of 1996. It also made the Neufield Publications Book Club in December of 1995 and was nominated for the Texas BlueBonnet Award in 1996. This book is interesting because of how it incorporates childhood mental illness into the plot and shows how serious childhood mental illness can be.
When Dani decides she wants to run away from the small desert town she lives in, two other children find out about it and want to come as well. The children do a lot of planning, but never quite runaway. The story is mainly about the home lives of these three children and how they are each neglected by their parents in a different way.
This book received a starred review in Book Report in September of 1999 and was listed on the New York Public Library�s list of 100 Best Titles. Any child that has felt neglected or left out will identify with these characters and enjoy this book.
0385327676.
When Matt and his family move to a new town, Matt meets a mysterious girl named Amelia who dresses in old fashioned clothes. Matt thinks that she is the ghost of a girl who once lived in a big mansion that burned down during the fire. It turns out that she is just an ordinary girl who is staying with her grandmother for the summer and wanted to get some attention.
This book was a Children�s Book of the Month Club selection and Snyder�s latest released book. Any reader familiar with Snyder�s books will know from the start that Amelia isn�t a real ghost, but will be intrigued to keep reading and find out who she really is.
0685005690.
The Stanleys take a trip to Italy, but trouble starts when Amanda is overheard by the wrong people, bragging about how rich her father is. Amanda and the rest of the children are kidnapped and held for ransom.
This book is the sequel to The Headless Cupid. While it wasn�t well received by reviewers, it�s one of my personal favorites and circulates well at the public library I work at. Children who are fans of the Stanley family will want to read this one as well.
