John Paulits – författare

At stake—the deed to The Clifton Heights Home for Children. Emmaline Gremlin wants to close the orphanage. Her runaway husband wants to turn the deed over to Mr. Bloober, Superintendent of the Home, to ensure its continuation.*Mickey Allston, age nine, and his friend Warren Towers, who is visiting from the Clifton Heights Home for Children, join forces with Mr. Camden Chatsworth, owner of a marvelous collection of old toys, and the runaway Mr. Gremlin, newly arrived in Pennypack and living under the name of Montague Dobson.*As the Monday deadline looms, Emmaline steals the deed, but as the clock ticks down, Warren hatches a clever plot which Camden Chatsworth, Montague Dobson, and the two boys attempt to pull off in the library of the Home as the deadline looms. Will they succeed? Can they reclaim the deed in time to save the Home?

How is Philip ever going to get a pet, the one thing he wants most in the world, when his parents say no to his every request? Angel, a very smart neighborhood girl, gives Philip a plan to change his parents’ mind, but the plan ends in disaster, and Philip’s parents say no louder than ever. With Angel’s help Philip tries again. Philip knows it’s his last chance. How will this plan turn out? Will Philip’s wish come true, or will he meet with disappointment again?

Philip runs into an awful streak of bad luck at the same time as his best buddy Emery runs into a streak of good luck. When Emery reveals that he's been using a newly acquired luck charm, Philip sets out to find one of his own, but what he finds turns out to be more deadly curse than good luck charm.

Philip’s teacher gives the class an impossible assignment. He calls it a “scavenger hunt/research project.” Philip blames it on his classmate Cecil, who asked for harder work to do. Philip and Emery team up, and thanks to a combination of inspiration, good luck, and hard work come up with a project the likes of which neither his class nor his teacher has ever seen.

Philip and Emery are granted three wishes by a gypsy from the circus sideshow, but to get these wishes, they must perform a chore for the gypsy. They must recover some jewels, including a magical scarab, from a dangerous location. They undertake the chore, but soon regret their decision. Disaster looms. Yet, if they can set things right quickly, all will be well. But the police are on their trail!

Philip runs into Jeanne, a new girl in the neighborhood, who defeats him at every game they play. Philip enlists his best pal Emery to help him, but even when they join forces, they lose to Jeanne. In his frustration, Philip foolishly assures Jeanne that he will win the poster contest being run at the mall. She laughs off his challenge, certain first prize will be hers. Philip cannot allow himself to lose again to this girl, but how in the world will he ever defeat The Girl Who Couldn’t Lose?

Philip and Emery are scared out of their wits when they learn their community service assignment involves dealing with a haunted house, but it gets worse! Circumstances force the boys to sneak inside the haunted house, and when they do, they receive the shock of their lives!

Philip and Emery dread their school assignment: perform an activity demonstrating brotherhood. Philip gets an inspiration, though, when a neighbor tells him about her women’s club fair which will raise money for charity. He and Emery decide to create a game for the fair and donate the money they collect. Creating a game proves more difficult than they thought, especially when Leon, Emery’s unlucky cousin, shows up to help out. Can Philip and Emery deliver their game on time, or will Leon’s monumental bad luck prove their undoing?

Philip’s Christmas turns into a disaster when his troublesome younger cousin Francis shows up to stay for a few days. Nothing is safe, not the Christmas tree, not the presents, and certainly not the good cheer of the season. Philip enlists his best friend Emery to help out in entertaining Francis but even a trip to the local mall to admire the decorations turns into a misadventure of epic proportions. Can anything bring some Christmas joy for Philip? Christmas morning holds the answer.

Could the Frankenstein monster, Dracula and the Wolfman actually move into someone’s respectable neighborhood? Philip and his best friend Emery are convinced it has happened when a suspicious new family moves in down the block. The boys have seen the vampire bat; they’ve heard the werewolf’s growl; they’ve witnessed the coffin delivery to the house. When Emery’s mother invites the new family to dinner, Philip and Emery have no choice but to prepare for the worst.

Can a homemade mummy rise from the dead? Philip and Emery’s pal Leon thinks so. He buries a tiny mummy in his backyard. When they attend a birthday party held in the Egyptian room of the museum, and a real, live, walking, talking mummy shows up and a valuable scarab goes missing, Philip and Emery have to figure out a way to get Leon out of a world of trouble.

Philip begins his summer in a bad mood. His mother insists he clean his room. But when Philip allows Leon, the clumsy jinx-boy of the neighborhood, to help, it sends Philip and his best friend Emery off on the wildest summer adventure they’ve ever had. Missing jewelry, stolen pants, a crazy Aunt, and secret trips to the police station keep Philip and Emery hopping until the night when it all explodes!

Emery’s clumsy and monumentally unlucky cousin Leon is coming to visit for a whole week!  Philip and Emery, best friends, are desperate to find ways to keep Leon out of their way, but Leon’s bad luck—and disaster—follows them everywhere. Rabbits’ feet don’t work.  Homemade remedies don’t work. And when Emery and Philip have an extraordinary spell of bad luck themselves, they’re certain that Leon’s bad luck is contagious. They plot and plan to convince Leon that the safest place for him is in his own home.

In a panic, Leon gets his mother to end his visit early but promises to return for a night a week from Friday, when he hopes he’ll be over his bad luck. Triumphant, Philip and Emery laughingly decide to circle that unlucky date on Emery’s calendar, but when they do they get a shock. The thirteenth of the month. Friday the thirteenth! And they have to spend it with Leon!

After Philip solves a few neighborhood mysteries, he decides to open a detective agency with his best pal Emery. Their classmate Jason starts making fun of their efforts, though, and being a detective suddenly isn’t so much fun. But soon Jason is accused of stealing money from the teacher, and Emery encourages Philip to solve the case and get Jason thrown out of their class. Philip sets to work and shocks the class when he reveals the solution to the mystery.

While sitting at his bedroom window staring at the moon, a burst of green light whisks Mark Foy away to Planet Zoron, where Prince Zincor and Princess Zayla need Mark’s help to regain the prince’s throne from Blaylock and Fentar, two evil councilors to his late father.

Mark Foy has returned home from his surprising trip to Planet Zoron. Prince Zincor’s throne is safe. But is it? Who shows up but Zincor’s Uncle Blaylock, still determined to take over Zincor’s throne, and his partner, the evil scientific genius Fentar? They’ve been mistakenly transported to Mark’s very neighborhood by the Tappa Ray and now have Mark in their sights, certain he knows something they don’t—the way back to Zoron. Blaylock’s quest for Prince Zincor’s throne is not over!

Dougie’s best friend Curly dies in an accident. Yet, Dougie keeps hearing Curly’s voice coming from the strangest places. When Dougie’s mom sees him talking to… nothing, she gets very worried. When Curly’s voice tells Dougie it wasn’t an accident that sent him off the second floor porch, Dougie promises to do what he can to bring the two men responsible to Justice—if only Curly’s twin sister didn’t have to be involved.