Crime Travelers - A Trip You Want To Take This Summer

Crime Travelers

Brainwashed

By Paul Aertker

Recommended for ages 8 – 12, Middle Grade

Happy summer vacation! Time to take a trip. Pack up and join the Crime Travelers on their exciting adventure to France. Large groups of kids and even babies are being Brainwashed and disappearing. Danger lurks from page one all the way through the book. It’s up to spy kids to solve this mystery and save these innocent victims.

From the very interesting characters that you’ll meet while investigating this extraordinary case in France, you’ll end up learning about other fascinating parts of the world too. This author sees reading as travel, and he’s inviting you along for the trip of a lifetime.

Ms. Gunerro is kidnapping so many kids, and forcing them to work for her at her Good Company, which is clearly a name meant to mislead. The strange Curukians protect Ms. Gunerro and are always ready to start a fight, with anyone.

Fighting against the Good Company is The New Resistance. As fourteen year old Astrid explains, “The New Resistance is run by kids because that’s the way Dad designed it. Grown-ups have messed up the world, so it’s our job to make things right.” To solve this case they will have to be brainsmart to avoid being Brainwashed too.

The way they sneak into Paris is clever, but then something goes wrong in the city and so Lucas, Astrid and their friends Jackknife and Nalini are together, cut off from the rest of their team. They must quickly create a new plan. Was their information wrong, or do they have a traitor in the Resistance? Astrid’s adopted brother Lucas discovers, “Everybody had secrets. Everybody.” Despite the danger, these kids have lots of fun, after all they are in gay Paris.

Children are the victims in Ms. Gunerro’s crimes, so children must be the ones to save them. But at what price? Lucas poses the question, “If you were Jackknife, in that situation, about to be Brainwashed, wouldn’t you want – wouldn’t you expect – your friends to come help you?”

The author, Paul Aertker (ETT Kerr) is a children’s travel book writer, teacher, and a frequent speaker at elementary and middle schools. He began his teaching career in West Africa with the Peace Corps where he helped establish the town’s first public library. As a traveler and multilingual teacher, Paul Aertker has clocked nearly half his life outside the US. He took the CIA exam because he wanted to be a spy for the good guys.

A Wild Will Wilder Adventure by Raymond Arroyo

Will WilderThe Lost Staff of Wonders

By Raymond Arroyo
Recommended for ages 8 – 12, Grade Levels 3 - 7

Grab your imagination and your creative spirit because you’re off on an adventure from cover to cover when you join Will Wilder in his series of daring deeds. This time author Raymond Arroyo sends Will off to find The Lost Staff of Wonders and invoke its powers to save the people of Perilous Falls. Danger strikes from the most peculiar and surprising sources, invoked by a demon intent on devastating the town’s peaceful neighborhoods. What would you do if such a menace struck your hometown?

Will Wilder gathers together his wonderful band of friends, each with talents and strengths of their own, asking them to go with him on this quest. His loyal buddies Andrew and Simon put their fears aside and join him, along with Max in his new motorized wheelchair who has dreams that foresee events in the future, and also his smart sister Cami agree to support their friend to save Perilous Falls. Together they help Will as he summons his supernatural abilities, and what he’s learned from his magical training, to try and stop this demon. Along the way they discover wisdom and help from family, even Will’s little brother. They find out that solutions and strength come not through anger, but from determination and trust within your heart.

Someone has stolen the Staff of Moses from the Museum. At one time hidden inside the Arc of the Covenant and said to have been responsible for summoning the plagues of ancient Egypt, whoever stole it must be stopped from unleashing terrors on Perilous Falls. It will take the combined forces of Will, his friends, and family, for any chance to find this devious thief and for any hope to face the demon before all is destroyed. As the river runs with blood, sharp-toothed frogs surround, and clouds of swarming gnats choke, what will it take for Will’s group to prevail?

New York Times bestselling author Raymond Arroyo tickles your curiosity and astounds with great action. He is dedicated to the joy of reading. As the founder of Storyented, he’s created a portal for reading engagement, recommended book lists, and the opportunity to delve deeply into stories that have touched our lives. The author lives in Virginia where he shares adventures with his wife and three children.

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

By Dan Gemeinhart
Recommended for ages 9 and up

Coyote is a twelve year old girl on a grand adventure with her dad driving all over the country. Luckily she’s a very resourceful, smart person who is learning how to get herself out of odd situations, which is somewhere she often finds herself.

Why did Coyote and her dad change their life five years ago, and take to the road? The reader discovers they are running away from a tragic family event. Now, when unexpected news from her home town near Seattle shocks Coyote, she resolves to go back to rescue a treasured part of this past. Now instead of running away, she has something important that she’s running to. One problem - she’s in Florida, about as far from Seattle as she could be, and she has to be back in ninety-six hours. Second problem – she can’t tell her dad to drive to Seattle because he’s vowed never to go back there.

They’re traveling in a renovated old school bus.  An abandoned school bus is a funny and fabulous vehicle for a journey, with its own wondrous secrets to reveal. It also has lots of room for all kinds of unique and lovable strays that they pick up along the way. First there’s Ivan, the wise and loyal kitten. Then at different stops they’re joined by a diverse and highly entertaining assortment of people who span all ages. Each boards the bus with a story and a challenge they’re facing. Each is struggling to find their destiny.

Along with the fun they share, what will this group of people learn from each other? How will they help each other as they realize and appreciate the importance of friends and family? Will Coyote make it to Seattle in time? And will she find what she’s looking for on the journey? Coyote debates are people “just passengers in life? That they’re just coasting by, along for the ride. Is it true that people got to wake up and take their own destiny into their hands?”

Author Dan Gemeinhart is a former teacher-librarian who lives in Wenatchee with his wife and three daughters. The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise is his latest book. Visit his website at http://dangemeinhart.com/