Sixth-grader Ted Hammond, who loves a good mystery, finds one in real life when he sees a face in the window of an abandoned farmhouse while on his paper route. Befriending the homeless family of a fallen Iraq War soldier he discovers hiding there has surprising consequences, including helping his one-room school stay open. This engaging middle-grade mystery is nicely up-to-date but set in a kinder, gentler and rapidly disappearing world. Not only is Ted responsible about delivering papers on his bicycle every morning and doing his farm chores in the afternoon, he was a Boy Scout until the scoutmaster moved away, and he takes his Scout Law seriously. Like the boy, his Plattsburg, Neb., community is genuinely generous, willing to open their arms and pocketbooks to welcome the family. Once again, Clements offers readers an intelligent protagonist, trustworthy adults, an interesting school situation and a real-life problem in a story that moves swiftly enough even for reluctant readers. (Fiction. 8-12)
Ted Hammond loves a good mystery, and in the spring of his fifth-grade year, he's working on a big one. How can his school in the little town of Plattsford stay open next year if there are going to be only five students? Out here on the Great Plains, in western Nebraska, everyone understands that if you lose the school, you lose the town. But the mystery that has Ted's full attention at the moment is about that face, the face he sees in the upper window of the Andersons' house as he rides past on his paper route. The Andersons moved away two years ago, and their old farmhouse is empty and boarded up tight. At least it's supposed to be.
A shrinking school in a dying town. A face in the window of an empty house. At first these facts don't seem to be related. But Ted Hammond learns that in a very small town, there's no such thing as an isolated event. And the solution of one mystery is often the beginning of another.
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A shrinking school in a dying town. A face in the window of an empty house. At first these facts don't seem to be related. But Ted Hammond learns that in a very small town, there's no such thing as an isolated event. And the solution of one mystery is often the beginning of another.
Room One: A Mystery or Two
Ted Hammond loves a good mystery, and in the spring of his fifth-grade year, he's working on a big one. How can his school in the little town of Plattsford stay open next year if there are going to be only five students? Out here on the Great Plains, in western Nebraska, everyone understands that if you lose the school, you lose the town. But the mystery that has Ted's full attention at the moment is about that face, the face he sees in the upper window of the Andersons' house as he rides past on his paper route. The Andersons moved away two years ago, and their old farmhouse is empty and boarded up tight. At least it's supposed to be.
A shrinking school in a dying town. A face in the window of an empty house. At first these facts don't seem to be related. But Ted Hammond learns that in a very small town, there's no such thing as an isolated event. And the solution of one mystery is often the beginning of another.
A shrinking school in a dying town. A face in the window of an empty house. At first these facts don't seem to be related. But Ted Hammond learns that in a very small town, there's no such thing as an isolated event. And the solution of one mystery is often the beginning of another.
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940170738816 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
| Publication date: | 07/01/2006 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Age Range: | 8 - 12 Years |
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