The Dark Secret Of Weatherend

From his adventures in The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn teenager Anthony Monday returns to take on a storm of sorcery. Anthony can always count on his friend, sixty-eight-year-old librarian Miss Eells, to break up Hoosac’s hot summer days with some adventure or other, but this one takes the cake. On their way to get ice cream, they make a side trip to the abandoned mansion of the late J. K. Borkman, a once rich and weird eccentric who was obsessed with the weather. When Anthony finds a diary there, the pages seemed filled with the ramblings of a crazy old man, until Borkman’s son starts fixing up the dilapidated house—and the storms come. Hail, lightning, and dangerous winds descend upon Hoosac. And when Anthony and Miss Eells connect the wild weather to the diary, they uncover a diabolical plan, black magic, and a son more than willing to finish what his father started . . . “A wild, ghoulish plot . . . There’s a nice balance most of the way through between folksy charm and gently intense suspense.” —Kirkus Reviews “The atmosphere Bellairs creates is creepy and a little chilling . . . So, wait for a dark and stormy night, grab a blanket and a flashlight and enjoy this eerie mystery.” —SF Site “Fast, witty and intricate entertainment.” —Publishers Weekly “Pure Bellairs.” —School Library Journal

Want to identify fiction books that boys in grades three through nine will find irresistible? This guide reveals dozens of worthwhile recommendations in categories ranging from adventure stories and sports novels to horror, humorous, and science fiction books. In Get Those Guys Reading!: Fiction and Series Books that Boys Will Love, authors Kathleen A. Baxter and Marcia A. Kochel provide compelling and current reading suggestions for younger boys—information that educators, librarians, and parents alike are desperate for. Comprising titles that are almost all well-reviewed in at least one major professional journal, or that are such big hits with kids that they've received the "stamp of approval" from the most important reviewers, this book will be invaluable to anyone whose goal is to help boys develop a healthy enthusiasm for reading. It includes chapters on adventure books; animal stories; graphic novels; historical fiction; humorous books; mystery, horror, and suspense titles; science fiction and fantasy; and sports novels. Within each chapter, the selections are further divided into books for younger readers (grades 3–6) and titles for older boys in grades 5–8. Elementary and middle school librarians and teachers, public librarians, Title One teachers, and parents of boys in grades 3–9 will all benefit greatly from having this book at hand.

Based on John Bellairs' mystery-adventure series, this thrilling story will keep you on the edge of your seat! John Bellairs, the name in Gothic mysteries for middle graders, wrote terrifying tales full of adventure, attitude, and alarm. For years, young readers have crept, crawled, and gone bump in the night with the unlikely heroes of these Gothic novels: Lewis Barnavelt, Johnny Dixon, and Anthony Monday. And this installment by Brad Strickland is no exception! After Rose Rita Pottinger cuts her finger on an enchanted Egyptian scroll, Lewis must work together with his neighbor Florence and sorcerous uncle Jonathan to rescue Rose Rita from the tomb in which she's imprisoned.

What is it about the old Wilder Creek Bridge that makes Lewis Barnavelt so curious-and so afraid? When Lewis and his best friend Rose Rita Pottinger set out to explore the bridge and the deserted farm nearby, they discover shocking secrets—and a horrifying monster. Even Lewis's Uncle Jonathan and the magical Mrs. Zimmermann may not be able to vanquish this ferocious creature! "[Strickland's] characters ring true in this entertaining page-turner that will captivate readers." —VOYA "A wonderful blend of mystery, adventure, ghosts, and friendship." —School Library Journal

A rich, magical gothic mystery from the legendary John Bellairs Rose Rita wishes she could go to camp like her bets friend, Lewis. She's sure that boys get to have all the fun.--until Mrs. Zimmermann offers her an adveture of her own. Mrs. Zimmermann's cousin Oley has left her his farm, as well as a ring that he thinks is magic. But when the two arrive at the deserted farm, the ring has mysteriously vanished. What power does it have? And will the person who took it use the ring to do evil?

Anthony Monday takes a vacation to another world in this mind-blowing mystery from the author of The Lamp from the Warlock’s Tomb. Summer is here and Anthony Monday has been asked to join his friend Miss Eells and her brother Emerson on a vacation to northern Canada, where Emerson owns a no-frills cottage on an island. School may be out, but there’s still a riddle to be solved: A few years ago, three tourists visiting the cottage disappeared without a trace . . . The cottage has no electricity, but it’s humming with strange sounds and illusions. Before long, Anthony finds a disappearing chest that turns out to be a portal to another world—a realm populated by evil human-like creatures who want to drag Earth and its inhabitants into their dimension. As Anthony, Miss Eells, and Emerson try to come up with a plan to save the world, they are faced with their own intruder: a visitor from the other side with vengeance on his mind . . . “The atmosphere throughout this adventuresome chiller is appropriately scary and the villains are certainly evil personified.” —School Library Journal “Bellairs’s characters have a captivating charm that adds to this spellbinding adventure.” —VOYA “Throwing in plenty of conventional ingredients (ghosts, illusions, cryptic clues, secret passages, magic amulets, a witches’ sabbath, cliffhangers, last-instant rescues, etc.), Bellairs dishes up a broth spiced with action [and] suspense.” —Kirkus Reviews “While the notion of passage into another world is not new, the late Bellairs provides unique twists.” —Publishers Weekly

A richly illustrated, encyclopedic deep dive into the history of roleplaying games. When Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson released Dungeons & Dragons in 1974, they created the first roleplaying game of all time. Little did they know that their humble box set of three small digest-sized booklets would spawn an entire industry practically overnight. In Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground, Stu Horvath explores how the hobby of roleplaying games, commonly known as RPGs, blossomed out of an unlikely pop culture phenomenon and became a dominant gaming form by the 2010s. Going far beyond D&D, this heavily illustrated tome covers more than three hundred different RPGs that have been published in the last five decades. Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground features (among other things) bunnies, ghostbusters, soap operas, criminal bears, space monsters, political intrigue, vampires, romance, and, of course, some dungeons and dragons. In a decade-by-decade breakdown, Horvath chronicles how RPGs have evolved in the time between their inception and the present day, offering a deep and gratifying glimpse into a hobby that has changed the way we think about games and play. The deluxe edition will include a foil-stamped cover and slipcase with a cloth binding, a ribbon, gilded edges, and an 8.5x11-inch card stock poster of the regular edition.

A richly illustrated, encyclopedic deep dive into the history of roleplaying games. When Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson released Dungeons & Dragons in 1974, they created the first roleplaying game of all time. Little did they know that their humble box set of three small digest-sized booklets would spawn an entire industry practically overnight. In Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground, Stu Horvath explores how the hobby of roleplaying games, commonly known as RPGs, blossomed out of an unlikely pop culture phenomenon and became a dominant gaming form by the 2010s. Going far beyond D&D, this heavily illustrated tome covers more than three hundred different RPGs that have been published in the last five decades. Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground features (among other things) bunnies, ghostbusters, soap operas, criminal bears, space monsters, political intrigue, vampires, romance, and, of course, some dungeons and dragons. In a decade-by-decade breakdown, Horvath chronicles how RPGs have evolved in the time between their inception and the present day, offering a deep and gratifying glimpse into a hobby that has changed the way we think about games and play.