“Combining a 1920s New York setting with ancient Turkish and Arabian folklore and history, this novel reads like a young Indiana Jones adventure. . . . As smart as it is action-packed.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books   On a stormy May day in 1929, William and Maxine arrive on the doorstep of Battersea Manor to spend the summer with a grandfather they barely remember. Whatever the cousins expected, Colonel Battersea isn’t it. Soon after they settle in, Grandpa receives a cryptic telegram and promptly whisks the cousins off to New York City to meet an unknown courier and collect a very important package. Before he can do so, however, Grandpa vanishes without a trace. When the cousins stumble upon Nura, a tenacious girl from Turkey, she promises to help them track down the parcel and rescue Colonel Battersea. But with cold-blooded gangsters and a secret society of assassins all clamoring for the mysterious object, the children soon find themselves in a desperate struggle just to escape the city’s dark streets alive. “A youthful mystery worthy of John Bellairs, with lyrical language reminiscent of Edith Nesbit; yet it stands on its own, creating a fully realized world with clearly defined lines of good and evil, and just a dash of magic.” —Booklist “Readers of R. L. LaFevers’s Theodosia Throckmorton series as well as lovers of the Rick Riordan books will enjoy this. A well-crafted adventure with a dash of magic.” —School Library Journal  “Brumbach’s vivid descriptions and terse, to-the-point dialogue keep the action moving and readers constantly engaged and surprised. . . . A fast-paced, action-packed adventure.” —Kirkus Reviews

JoJo and Sam have been best friends since he moved in next door when they were five years old. JoJo has always liked the ways Sam is different from other boys, but now that they’re both 14, he’s changing in ways she’s not so sure she likes. Just when she thinks she’s getting used to his new muscles and the way other girls are looking at him, she sees the bruises on his back and knows his step-father is beating him. JoJo tries to get Sam to leave, but he says he can’t desert his mom and step-sister. He makes JoJo promise not to tell anyone or he’ll be sent away to live with his grandmother in Tennessee. When Sam’s mom witnesses the abuse for herself, she finally stops drinking and stands up for all of them, but that’s when Sam’s step-father turns deadly.

Do the crime, do the time behind bars. But once you've been in, it can be tough to stay out.Ian's band is finally taking off. But the band's front man and Ian's best friend, Orlando, can't catch a break as a black kid in their white town. Tension with a security guard lands both Ian and Orlando in jail, and when Orlando is held indefinitely, someone will need to take over the band until he gets out. When Orlando chooses Chase, the band's bassist, to step in, Ian is slighted. As Ian's resentment builds, he plots his revenge. One by one, he turns his bandmates against one another, with tragic results. As Ian holds his friends close and his enemies closer, no one can tell which is which until it's too late.

Cody, Queen, Luke, and M.E. are the Code Busters—clever clue hunters with a passion for puzzles. They can't wait for their school trip to Washington, D.C., where they'll get to visit the International Spy Museum. But it seems as if someone is spying on them—or at least leaving coded messages that even the Code Busters can't crack. And once they arrive at the museum, they notice they're being followed by a mysterious stranger. Then a classmate goes missing. Could the unknown spy be responsible? It's up to the Code Busters to find out! Can you crack the code? Test your brain with the Code Busters to see if you have the right stuff to be an ace detective. Answers are in the back, if you ever get stuck.