Bøker av James Crusselle

NOT FOR CHILDREN. What sort of person lives in Gelder's Green? Delia, the neighborhood enfant terrible, creator of the worlds most potentially domesticated cyborg. Ernest and Flavia, perfectly matched in a time bomb of a marriage. Arabella, their shellshocked neighbor, fleeing from disaster by running straight toward it. Derek, her wayward brother, wanted dead or alive and available both ways. Who will survive what none of them ever expected?

Is Dac, the stranger, trying to cheat Kirk and his neighbors? Kirk doesn't think so. But his neighbors, who always seek his advice before rejecting it, refuse Dac's offer and then feel cheated anyway. Kirk warns them that blaming Dac for their own mistake might prove unwise. But this time, too, they have sought his advice before rejecting it.

Sometimes in the night the wind blows by on its way to who knows where and scatters Dac's house all over the place. Dac sets out to build a house for the wind to play with. But what kind of house would the wind like better than his?

It's gala night at the ballet, and Marceline thinks the show needs improvement. While her parents aren't watching her, she goes onstage, surpasses her expectations, and makes a diplomatic error. As she flees from the policeman chasing her down the street, she considers the possibility that she ought to have minded her own business. This is the second of The Marceline Books.

For a wonderful surprise, says the mysterious note in Nola's skirt pocket, come to the carnival over the hill. But the carnival over the hill may be the reason why Nola is locked out of her house. When she goes to inquire, she discovers that a wonderful surprise can sometimes burst one's balloon.

Marceline did what? If you go to The Very Exclusive One-of-a-Kind Gift Shop, don't ask the clerk with the white gloves about her. He nearly had a nervous collapse because of what she did to The Ballet Ennuyeux de Montparnasse, and to the lion who sued her parents for damages. She and her magical skis even disrupted the Whitecap Games in Norway. Of course he only had her word for that, and she was only nine years old, or so she said.

Would a trip to Mars cure a velociraptor's allergies? Molly, Patrick's baby-sitter, would say a triple-chocolate peanut butter brownie could cure them just as well. But the velociraptor wants to go to Mars and needs Patrick's help getting there. Patrick thinks that's no problem, until a spaceship carrying the Martian Imperial Army, the Martian National Peace-Keeping Force and the Martian Combat Reserve lands in his backyard. For Molly it's just another Friday evening at Patrick's house.

Marceline did what next? In Volume Two, the questions continue. Certainly something happened. No one denies that. But the night Marceline went to the Comandante's state banquet, did she really make a dangerous enemy of his infamous Mystical Iguana? The day she lost control of her Super Intergalactic Deluxe Model Flyer Roller Skates, did she really cause an elephant stampede and almost wreck Mr. Shawn Eustace's movie career? Did she tell the clerk with the white gloves what really, really happened, or could the rest of the story be even more troublesome than he fears? After all, she's only nine years old. Or so she says.

Some will be more successful than others as each of them goes out to accomplish something new. Kirk's neighbors, ignoring his advice, seek rewards they have not earned and risk starting a war. Patrick helps a velociraptor escape to Mars but runs into diplomatic problems. Chad, who wants to learn to ice skate, takes lessons from a penguin he doesn't trust. Frankie sets out to atone for a ruinous mistake but neglects to fix it first.

Marceline did what? In Volume Three, the clerk with the white gloves has to take a dangerous chance on Marceline's stories. Certainly something happened. No one denies that. But can he believe she and her friend Billy Bronner ran afoul of a fourth-grade teacher from outer space? Can he believe nothing but a golden hula hoop flew Marceline halfway across the world? When he finds The Very Exclusive One-of-a-Kind Gift Shop and even his own life in jeopardy, Marceline insists that she can help him. If he'll trust her. But he says no sensible person could ever trust Marceline. After all, she's only nine years old. Or so she says.