Illinois Authors

Harcourt, Boston : 2009.

In this story told mostly through letters, children's book author I.B. Grumply gets more than he bargained for when he rents a quiet place to write for the summer.

Feiwel and Friends, New York : 2010.

After her father, brother, and sister are killed in a plane crash, twelve-year-old Daralynn's life in tiny Digginsville, Missouri, continues as her mother turns angry and embittered, her grandmother becomes senile, and her flamboyant aunt continues to run the Summer Sunset Retirement Home for Distinguished Gentlemen, while being courted by the owner of the town's new crematorium.

Avon Books, New York : ©1999.

Sent to Camp Happy Harmony to learn how to get along with each other, pairs of brothers and sisters chronicle in letters home how they come to suspect the intentions of the singing family running the camp.

Harcourt, Boston : 2009.

In this story told mostly through letters, busybody Dick Tater tries to ban Halloween and ghost stories, as well as to break up the popular writing team of I.B. Grumply, ghost Olive C. Spence, and eleven-year-old illustrator Seymour Hope.

Harcourt, Orlando, Fla. : ©2006.

In this novel told through letters, newspaper articles, and police reports, a middle school principal's bathroom renovation project leads to the discovery of stolen Roman antiquities.

Sandpiper, New York : ©2007.

The seventh graders at Geyser Creek Middle School are preparing for a spelling bee and a horrible standardized test called the BEE, and try to smuggle their mascot--a bee that spells--into the local spelling competition.

When the principal asks a fifth-grader to write a letter regarding the purchase of a new drinking fountain for their school, he finds that all sorts of chaos results.

Gulliver Books/Harcourt, Orlando [Fla.] : ©2004.

A series of letters reveals the selection of the famous fountain designer, Florence Waters, to design a new sink for the Geyser Creek Middle School cafeteria, her subsequent disappearance, and the efforts of a class of sixth-graders to find her.

Harcourt Inc., Orlando, Fla. : ©2005.

In this story told primarily through letters, Principal Russ wants the middle school trees to be trimmed before his administrative evaluation, but the project is interrupted by a town gender war, dueling chefs, student tree protests, and a surprise wedding.

When Mother Rabbit knits a warm winter hat for Little Rabbit, he likes it so much that he suggests they make hats for all of their friends as Christmas gifts.