The Mysterious Phone Call: A Mud Street Misfits Adventure

by Brian O'Dell, Beth Lauderdale

Overview

From the Readers' Favorite Award winning authors of "The Girl in the Blue Tie-Dye Shirt" comes a new Mud Street Misfits Adventure!

“Why does a job matter so much? Home, family, friends … roots, that’s what’s important!”

The Mud Street Misfits are back and this time Sarah needs their help! Join them as, with help from the 'other side', they fight to save the Orpheum Theater before it’s too late!

Sarah’s mom has taken a new job in Chicago and now they have to move … again! But Sarah loves Ozark. She’s lived here since the 4^th grade and even formed The Mud Street Misfits with her brother David, and best friends, Liam, Connor, and Molly. She can’t bear the thought of leaving the things she loves, but she has no choice. She’s never been able to speak up for herself and this time is no different.

When she finds out that cold-hearted and ruthless Mayor Scott is planning to demolish the beautiful old relic, the Orpheum Theater, she is determined to save it. She may have to leave the town and people she loves, but she can at least leave behind a beloved landmark for the people of Ozark to enjoy.

As the Misfits race against the clock to save the old building they discover that there is much more to the Orpheum Theater than what can be seen with the naked eye. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780578661988
Publisher:	Mud Street Misfits, LLC
Publication date:	03/24/2020
Series:	Mud Street Misfits Adventure , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

After long days working in an office, Brian spent many nights reading books and telling stories of adventures to his four children. Building off inspiration from his family, the stories became bigger and more animated and the request for stories became more frequent. Brian has always told his children to explore the world and chase their dreams. With encouragement and support from his family, Brian made the decision to follow one of his own dreams, writing down and sharing his stories with other Misfits!!
A Misfit herself, Beth's fascination with all things "woo-woo" goes back to her childhood where she spent many hours in fantasy worlds of her own creation. As an adult, knowing there was more to life than just what we see with our eyes, she began an exploration of these fascinating other realms. A love of writing and the desire to share her knowledge sparked the creation of many short stories. Now, Beth is excited to share her love of the unknown with a new generation of readers and fellow Misfits!

Editorial Reviews

2019-11-19
In O'Dell and Lauderdale's (The Girl in the Blue Tie-Dye Shirt, 2018) middle grade sequel, the Mud Street Misfits take on their town's mayor in order to save a treasured building.Preteen Sarah Barrett was left on the steps of the Santa Monica Public Library as an infant. Now she lives in small-town Ozark, Missouri with her adoptive parents, Heather and Rachel,and her younger stepbrother, David. She and David are members of the Mud Street Misfits, along with their friends Connor Harrison and Liam and Molly MacLeod. Recently, Liam hit his head and developed psychic powers; the Misfits' ensuing adventure brought them inside the abandoned Ozark Orpheum, which hosted live music for decades but now lies in decay. Sarah has learned that Rachel is joining a Chicago law firm, which is devastating news; the family has already moved frequently, and Ozark is the first place that truly felt like home to her. After discovering that Ozark's Mayor Scott plans to demolish the Orpheum in just two weeks, Sarah looks into how to get the building certified as a historic site, due to its age, condition, and significance. The kids sneak back into the Orpheum to find something that will convince City Hall to reconsider. In the building's attic, they find a steamer trunk full of costumes, and, strangely, a black rotary phone that provides Liam with psychic visions—and later does something else that's unexpected. With the help of writer Steve Lewis, who once wrote about the Orpheum for The Ozark Trail magazine, and Cora, their psychic friend and crystal expert, can the Misfits save a building that's full of powerful memories?

O'Dell and Lauderdale again depict the passionate moral clarity of youth, which can be challenging to carry into adulthood. Sarah's melancholy character and resulting motivations give her a compelling narrative arc: She wants to save the Orpheum because she can't save her place within the Misfits. At one point, she feels "as if she had no physical substance and was suspended above the earth by a tenuous thread"; music helps her, however, as it can "take her to another world." Her loving parents, Rachel and Heather, who are "committed to each other and to creating a family," are portrayed with matter-of-fact positivity. The author again supplies his young target audience with tastes of both science and spirituality, as when Cora, in a discussion of ghosts, quotes Albert Einstein, notes that "Energy cannot be created or destroyed." The Hindu concept of chakras—energy centers in the body—comes up in a scene in Cora's crystal shop; the proprietor offers Sarah a piece of kyanite, which she says will help relieve stress in the girl's throat chakra, allowing her to "speak [her] truth with clarity." This installment focuses mainly on Sarah, as the previous one did on Liam and Connor, giving the series a buoyantly episodic feel, and Ozark, with its haunted corners and inquisitive Misfits, continues to be a wonderful place to visit.

A sweet, supernatural middle grade tale that's grounded by memorable characters.

Kirkus Reviews