Bibliography

A Clue in Code

(Harper & Row, 1985)
The Bean brothers hunt for the thief who stole the class trip money. Their clue? A mysterious cipher found in a desk.
Illustrations by Judy Glasser.

Archer Armadillo’s Secret Room

(Macmillan, 1985)
When Archer’s family moves away from “the best burrow in the state of Texas,” a distressed Archer runs back to his old home.
Illustrated by Beth Lee Weiner.

The Case of the Sabotaged School Play

(Harper & Row, 1984)
Sam and Dave try to discover who is sabotaging the school play and why.
Illustrations by Judy Glasser.

(Harper & Row, 1984)
Sam and Dave are hired by Rita O’Toole, their sidekick-to-be, to find her missing brother, Leroy. In the process, they stumble upon a bookmaking operation.
Illustrations by Judy Glasser.

The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth

(Harper & Row, 1983)

Becky and Nemi, fast friends, find their relationship problematic when they both become involved in their high school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Their love lives, and those of their friends, parallel those of the play.

The Fido Frame-Up

(Warne, 1983)
Sam tracks down the Black Feather Gang, jewel thieves.
Illustrations by Andrew Glass.

Big Wheel

(Disney-Hyperion, 1993)

Twelve-year-old Wheel Wiggins is the head honcho of his neighborhood. Every year he masterminds the town’s 4th of July extravaganza. But this time he’s stuck for an idea and suffering from, as he puts it, “executive stress,” made worse when everyone’s favorite deejay, Wild Willie, announces a contest for the best Independence Day celebration. At last Wheel does dream up his greatest scheme ever – an amazing carnival. But then a new kid arrives in town – a hot shot, unicycle-riding rich kid named Topper, who wants not only to join Wheel’s gang, but to take it over. And the war begins.

It’s Hard to Read a Map with a Beagle on Your Lap

(Holt, 1993)
Silly dog poems. True doggerel.
Illustrated by Clement Oubrerie.

California Demon

(Disney-Hyperion, 1992)

When fourteen-year-old, would-be witch Rosie Rivera tried to concoct a love potion, she accidentally let a nasty, not-so-little imp out of a bottle instead. The creature stows away to California in a Christmas gift opened by Danny Pauling and his sister Laura. The kids think they’ve hit the jackpot and acquired a genie, who calls himself Mr. Ed, to grant them endless wishes. But Mr. Ed’s outlandish tricks soon wreak havoc all over L.A., landing Danny, Laura, and their mother in danger. It’s up to Rosie and her mother Lydia, a retired witch, to save the day.

Chester, The Out of Work Dog

(Holt, 1992)
When Chester’s family moves from the country to the city, the poor border collie is out-of-work. Desperately missing his sheep, he tries to herd everything in sight, with disastrous consequences, until he finally gets a new and most satisfying job.
Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith.

In My Tent

(Macmillan, 1992)
Episodic poems depicting one family’s camping trip as seen through the eyes of a young girl.
Illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully.

The Golden Heart of Winter

(Morrow, 1991)
To help him choose the next master of the forge, a blacksmith sends his three sons on a quest to bring him back something of value. Kindly Half, the youngest, stops in a magical wood to free an imprisoned raven, who tells him the secret of the most precious object in the world: the Golden Heart of Winter, a glowing heart that beats beneath the ground so that spring will follow winter forever and Life will rule equally with Death. When his two greedy brothers dig up the Heart, it is up to Half to rescue it and save his land from ruin.
Illustrated by Robert Rayevsky.