In a seaside town, Djuna discovers theft, secrets—and murder When Djuna goes to spend the summer with troubled Aunt Patty, he passes the time swimming, eating steamed clams, and catching lobsters out in the bay. But when seemingly worthless trinkets start disappearing from Aunt Patty’s house, Djuna’s sleuthing instincts spring into action, and he soon discovers something far more frightening than petty theft. Then Aunt Patty’s fishing boat disappears from the docks. When she and Djuna discover it set adrift along the rocky coast, Djuna tries to save the ship, but it has been smashed to bits by the waves. Djuna is certain that what happened to the Patagonia was no accident. The old ship was murdered—and he will find out who did it. Ellery Queen is one of the world’s finest detectives, but his adventures are nothing compared to the Ellery Queen Jr. Mystery Stories. Join Queen’s apprentice, Djuna, and his trusty Scottie, Champ, on adventures filled with danger, suspense, and thrills. The Golden Eagle Mystery is the second book in the Ellery Queen Jr. Mystery Stories, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
It's the most valuable ounce of gold in the world, the celebrated, the fabled, the infamous 1933 double eagle, illegal to own and coveted all the more, sought with passion by men of wealth and with steely persistence by the United States government for more than a half century—it shouldn't even exist but it does, and its astonishing, true adventures read like "a composite of The Lord of the Rings and The Maltese Falcon" (The New York Times). In 1905, at the height of the exuberant Gilded Age, President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned America's greatest sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens—as he battled in vain for his life—to create what became America's most beautiful coin. In 1933 the hopes of America dimmed in the darkness of the Great Depression, and gold—the nation's lifeblood—hemorrhaged from the financial system. As the economy teetered on the brink of total collapse, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in his first act as president, assumed wartime powers while the nation was at peace and in a "swift, staccato action" unprecedented in United States history recalled all gold and banned its private ownership. But the United States Mint continued, quite legally, to strike nearly a half million 1933 double eagles that were never issued and were deemed illegal to own. In 1937, along with countless millions of other gold coins, they were melted down into faceless gold bars and sent to Fort Knox. The government thought they had destroyed them all—but they were wrong. A few escaped, purloined in a crime—an inside job—that wasn't discovered until 1944. Then, the fugitive 1933 double eagles became the focus of a relentless Secret Service investigation spearheaded by the man who had put away Al Capone. All the coins that could be found were seized and destroyed. But one was beyond their reach, in a king's collection in Egypt, where it survived a world war, a revolution, and a coup, only to be lost again. In 1996, more than forty years later, in a dramatic sting operation set up by a Secret Service informant at the Waldorf-Astoria, an English and an American coin dealer were arrested with a 1933 double eagle which, after years of litigation, was sold in July 2002 to an anonymous buyer for more than $7.5 million in a record-shattering auction. But was it the only one? The lost one? Illegal Tender, revealing information available for the first time, tells a riveting tale of American history, liberally spiced with greed, intrigue, deception, and controversy as it follows the once secret odyssey of this fabulous golden object through the decades. With its cast of kings, presidents, government agents, shadowy dealers, and crooks, Illegal Tender will keep readers guessing about this incomparable disk of gold—the coin that shouldn't be and almost wasn't—until the very end.
A gang of young sleuths and a trusty terrier put their noses to a bank robbers’ trail Ellery Queen’s young apprentice, Djuna, is preparing for an afternoon of fishing when a stranger leans out of his car window and asks for directions to Canada. A few minutes later, Djuna watches as the man’s friends come running out of the local bank and into the getaway car, guns blazing, before taking off for the Canadian border. It is a mystery that could baffle even Djuna’s famous boss, but with the help of a ferocious black Scottie named Champ and a few crime-solving friends, he will find the culprits. It will be the greatest adventure of his life. Ellery Queen is one of the world’s finest detectives, but his adventures are nothing compared to the Ellery Queen Jr. Mystery Stories. Join Queen’s apprentice, Djuna, and his trusty Scottie, Champ, on adventures filled with danger, suspense, and thrills. The Black Dog Mystery is the first book in the Ellery Queen Jr. Mystery Stories, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
"An illustrated behavioral ethogram for Golden Eagles and other raptors to help define behavioral descriptions and observations in the field of ornithology"--
Solve some more puzzling mysteries with super sleuth Encyclopedia Brown! Leroy Brown is back in the Encyclopedia Brown series. As Idaville's ten-year-old star detective, Encyclopedia has an uncanny knack for trivia. With his unconventional knowledge, he solves mysteries for the neighborhood kids through his own detective agency. But his dad also happens to be the chief of the Idaville police department, and every night around the dinner table, Encyclopedia helps him solve some of the most baffling crimes. With ten confounding mysteries, not only does Encyclopedia have a chance to solve them, but readers are given all the clues as well and can chime in with their own solutions. Interactive and fun, it's classic Encyclopedia Brown!
Jake McGowan-Lowe is a boy with a very unusual hobby. Since the age of 7, he has been photographing and blogging about his incredible finds and now has a worldwide following, including 100,000 visitors from the US and Canada. Follow Jake as he explores the animal world through this new 64-page book. He takes you on a world wide journey of his own collection, and introduces you to other amazing animals from the four corners of the globe. Find out what a cow's tooth, a rabbit's rib and a duck's quack look like and much, much more besides.
WELCOME TO STORK-PUR, THE PLACE OF NO RETURN One moonlit night, when Shikar, the squirrel, asks his favourite doves, Lovey and Dovey, to tell him a story, they recount their time at Stork-pur, a mysterious bird commune. A place no bird would ever want to visit. On a secret mission, the doves are taken hostage by a villainous stork whose dark plan is to rule the bird-world. Danger lurks in every corner of the caves the doves are imprisoned in, and they wonder whom they can trust? The talkative green pigeon, the mesmerizing whistling thrush or the magnificent golden eagle? The feather-raising adventure ends finally in a story the doves dub as 'the story of all stories'–one that deeply affects Shikar and alters his notions of himself, his past and his origins. Return to the Rose Garden to read about the enthralling capers of your favourite feathered friends and bird-squirrel, as they swap stories of daring and wonder.
Short-listed for the 2009 Golden Eagle Book Award To the Gwich’in First Nation, Shildii Rock near Fort McPherson in the Northwest Territories is a place of deep mythological significance.When 12-year-old Robin Harris, the son of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, spots someone on the rock staring at him, he just knows something is wrong. Robin and his friend Wayne Reindeer, a Gwichin youth, set out to discover what’s going on and to gain the respect of their fathers. But Robin is notorious for his overactive imagination and has a hard time getting anyone to believe him. To make matters worse, there’s a crazy Dutch trapper with an ugly disposition and murder in his eyes. And whenever possible a new boy in town throws wrenches into Robin’s plans. When murder comes their way, Robin and Wayne realize its too late to turn back. Will the boys unlock the secrets of Shildii Rock in time? Or will they, too, fall victim to a killer?
There are too many stories about Indigenous women who go missing or are murdered, and it doesn’t seem as though official sources such as government, police or the courts respond in a way that works toward finding justice or even solutions. At least that is the way Wren StrongEagle sees it. Wren is devastated when her twin sister, Raven, mysteriously disappears after the two spend an evening visiting at a local pub. When Wren files a missing persons report with the local police, she is dismissed and becomes convinced the case will not be properly investigated. As she follows media reports, Wren realizes that the same heartbreak she’s feeling is the same for too many families, indeed for whole Nations. Something within Wren snaps and she decides to take justice into her own hands. She soon disappears into a darkness, struggling to come to terms with the type of justice she delivers. Throughout her choices, and every step along the way, Wren feels as though she is being guided. But, by what?
Fifteen-year-old Tim loves his job at his dad's pet store, partly because he gets to spend time with his best friend, a black cockatoo named Elmo. But things at work have been tense since the store moved to a larger, more expensive location. To make extra money his father rents out the store's exotic birds for parties and Tim is furious at this exploitation of his friend. When Elmo is stolen from one of the parties, the police are unconcerned about the theft. Tim and his new human friend, Sapna, set out to find Elmo and discover that Elmo is more valuable than they'd ever imagined. This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for middle-grade readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read!
