Barbara Brooks Wallace – författare

".The mystery has plenty of snakes and twists as well as characters that step right off the pages."-A Booklist Editor's Choice Book

"With a fine hand for Gothic embroidery and a nifty surprise conclusion that ties up all the loose ends, Wallace has delivered another very satisfying read."-School Library Journal

Winner of the Mystery Writers of America EDGAR AWARD

Emily Luccock thought the worst was behind her; she had survived the horrors of Sugar Hill Hall and been reunited with her beloved Aunt and Uncle Twice. Now she is devastated to be left at Mrs. Spilking's Select Academy while her aunt and uncle sail for India. But nothing can top Emily's misery once she spies the dreary school, icy Mrs. Spilking, and, once again, a bowl of tantalizing yet forbidden peppermints! Emily tries to keep her spirits up while counting the days until she can rejoin Aunt and Uncle Twice. But she soon realizes her aunt and uncle have all but forgotten her, and, worse, Mrs. Spilking's behavior grows increasingly cruel -- and suspicious. Can Emily discover what's going on at the dreadful school before her future is destroyed forever?

What is the secret? In a grim tenement district of New York City, before the turn of the century, young Robin decides to take his baby brother, Danny, and escape from his brutal stepfather. Surviving on the street is no easy feat, until he discovers a place called St. Something, and joins up with the tough but loyal street boys who make St. Something their home. Robin knows he cannot hide forever -- but what he does not know is how many untold secrets lie before him, and how the answers lie with the most unlikely person....

One flight up the narrow, steep stairs, Robin finds himself swallowed up by the darkness, terrified and hating the thought of the misery and fear his knock will bring to the wretched families who huddle behind every door in the building.Thus begins the story set in a grim tenement district of New York City before the turn of the twentieth century. It is there that Robin, once protected by a loving mother and father, both now dead, must contend with a brutal stepfather, Hawker Doak. Yet Robin is faced with only two choices: remain in the ruthless charge of Hawker, collecting the hated rents, and, perhaps worse, being sent to work in a factory or escape into the treacherous slum streets, haunted by, among other horrors, the bullying boys who work and live in the streets, and whom Robin so fears. Either choice provides a sure recipe for a very short life. But in the end it is fear for the life of his baby brother that makes Robin''s agonizing decision for him. The answer to whether or not they survive will only be found when Robin discovers the secret guarded by a place called St. Something.Within this true picture of tenement life, Barbara Brooks Wallace has created another chilling mystery that starts with one kind of terror, only to weave its way into yet another, deepened by intrigue and unspeakable treachery.

If you think nothing much is going on when Rupert P. Brown III begins sixth grade at Pepperdine Elementary School, you''d be dead wrong. Consider the following: a new teacher with the unlikely name of Miss Blossom; a new principal who has all the girls swooning; a talking bird who thinks he''s a math whiz; a computer that goes berserk and produces a Web site called computowitch.com that not only displays some very ominous poetry, but whose password is the name of a witch Rupert has tangled with in the past. Yes, a witch!Faster than you can say "witchcraft and wizardry," Rupert figures he could be in big trouble. He can really use the help of Miss Switch, a real, honest-to-goodness witch herself, who also, amazingly, was once a former popular teacher of Rupert''s class at Pepperdine. He has reason to believe she''s back, but where?Once again, Rupert records another scary (well, sort of) and funny encounter with Miss Switch. His earlier accounts, equally scary and funny, appear in the books The Trouble with Miss Switch and Miss Switch to the Rescue.

Emily Luccock is looking forward to living at Sugar Hill Hall....She remembers her aunt and uncle''s grand old mansion well, with its enormous, elegant parlor, marble fireplace, and white china cups filled with hot chocolate. But this time things are different. Her aunt''s once bright and lively home is now dead with silence. Evil lurks in every corner, and the dark, shadowed walls watch and whisper late at night. And no one ever speaks. Everything''s changed at Sugar Hill Hall, and Emily knows something awful is happening there. What''s become of Uncle Twice? Why is Aunt Twice a prisoner in her own home? Emily is desperate to uncover the truth. Time is running out, and she must find a way to save the people and home she cares so much about.