The story pirates present Digging up danger

Part story, part manual for young writers, this Story Pirates mash-up features a mystery developed by a professional writer from a contest-winning idea submitted by an eight-year-old, linked section by section to an extensive gathering of prompts and advice on crafting a whodunit. A dedicated ghost hunter, Eliza is thrilled when her botanist mom is hired by an exotic plants business run out of a spooky old Brooklyn mansion. When a series of creepy incidents signal some eerie game's afoot, Eliza's sleuthing instincts come into play. The MacGuffin (not a term used here: the authors generally steer clear of genre cant) turns out to be not a ghost but a previously unknown, fantastically valuable stolen plant with a shape-changing guardian who wants it back. The caper is charged with chills, thrills, and even funny twists; the technical advice (with its oft-repeated you have PERMISSION TO GET WEIRD! ) is spot-on, and the original idea (for which the young author was awarded a flat fee welcome to freelancing!) is included at the end. Finished illustrations not seen.--John Peters Copyright 2018 Booklist

Arrr you ready to read (and possibly write) a spooky mystery?Following series opener Stuck in the Stone Age (2018), performers and writing teachers the Story Pirates issue their second novel and writing-manual mashup; this time, it's a ghostly mystery. Thirteen-year-old Eliza Stahl and her botanist mother plan to spend a couple of summer months helping rare-plant dealers Winston and Camilla Carroll identify exotic plants at their shop in New York City. Eliza's reluctant until she sees the shop; she wants to be a paranormal investigator, and she's sure Carrolls' Gardens is haunted. Strange noises in the attic, a shadowy figure, and the odd behavior of the Carrolls and their teenage nephew, Tommy, prompt Eliza to suspect ghosts and even possession. When a rare plant goes missing, Eliza's mother joins the investigationbut things are about to get weird! Eliza and her mom present white, while the Carrolls are people of color. As with the first in the Story Pirates Present series, this shivery mystery was inspired by a story idea from a real kid: here, Phoebe Wolinetz. Periodically throughout the tale, Rolo (captain of the Story Pirates) and Wolinetz pop up in an illustration to direct readers interested in the crafting of the mystery to the Mystery Construction Zone, 90 pages of detailed writing instruction, at the back. It's a fantastic, step-by-step guide with prompts, ideas, definitions, and forms for aspiring Edgar winners.West's tale, decorated with Aly's eerie, cartoon art, is well worth reading on its ownthe writing manual takes it to a whole other level. (Paranormal mystery/nonfiction hybrid. 8-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

SECRETS LOVE THREE THINGS: darkness, solitude, and quiet. The docks had all three. Almost no one used these particular docks anymore. Their lamps were burned out, their boards beginning to rot. The surrounding water was sludgy and black. Pleasure boats had migrated to nicer boatyards years ago. Fishing boats had all but disappeared. The docks were left alone with their quiet, muddy darkness. And their secrets. It was well past midnight on one summer night when an old gray boat scraped up against the pilings. Despite the darkness, the boat didn't turn on its lights. The city, twinkling across the bay like a pile of fallen stars, provided the only glow. The boat was an old fishing craft, just large enough for the small crew that slunk up from belowdecks. Two men settled a plank between the boat and the dock. One of them--a man in a battered sweater, with grizzled hair tucked under a knit cap--carried crates and boxes down the plank and placed them in a waiting pickup truck. When everything was loaded, the man in the battered sweater climbed into the truck's cab and rattled away into the darkness. The rest of the crew slipped back out of sight. For a moment, everything was still. Black waves knocked softly at the boat's hull. And then, on the deck, a shadow split from the surrounding darkness. The shadow was hunched and long-limbed, and as it moved, a pool of other shadows moved with it, rippling like a cloak around its body. It slid out from behind a heap of cargo, glided across the deck, and leaped over the boat's side. Its feet against the dock were nearly soundless. No one heard those feet anyway. No one saw that shadow watching the truck dwindle away, its head cocked as though sensing something in the air. No one saw that shadow bend, its shape changing, growing lower, longer, faster, until on four silent feet it raced down the dock and along the streets, where it, too, melted into the darkness, one secret following another. Excerpted from The Story Pirates Present by The Story Pirates, Jacqueline West All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.