Quiet was the default setting in the teacher's lounge, and quiet was nice, but a new and different kind of quiet had taken hold in the weeks since school began. This quiet was not an absence of conversation, but a conspiracy of silence. The distinction wasn't lost on Bixby's veteran teachers who knew the difference. Something was lurking beneath the surface that nobody seemed willing to talk about, though some were less afraid than others.Kids are disappearing at Bixby Elementary, and no one knows why. But that's only the second strangest thing happening inside the school.Who's responsible? That's just what Drew and the rest of the Zero Avenue brats want to know, but are they ready for what they'll find? Because finding out means unraveling the threads of a conspiracy that blurs the line between myth and science, and between friends and enemies. Because finding out draws them into an adventure that tests their character, and their loyalties to each other. Seeing Harley selected for the Vice-Principal's Special Studies program triggers Drew's suspicions--and his jealousy. Digging deeper, he traces the program's tangled roots to clandestine research carried out during WWII. Driven by their sense of loyalty, Drew and the rest of the brats follow the program's long shadow from the war's twilight, to the present day and the abandoned amusement park where their fight for the future might just heal their wounded past.