Title: Missing in Paradise
Publication date: November 3, 2014
Publisher: Rebelight Publishing Inc.
Author: Larry Verstraete
Four months after Gramp’s mysterious death, Nate helps out at Gram’s garage sale. An eerie feeling, as if Gramps were reaching beyond the grave to send Nate a message, leads Nate to a box full of clues. A missing plane. A secret to keep. A map highlighting the route where Gramps died and the message, “Shipment #35-Gold.” Nate and his best friend, Simon, are convinced that Gramps was on a treasure hunt when he died. They’re just as convinced that Gram’s shifty next door neighbour, Fortier, is after the gold too. Nate and Simon sneak away on a Greyhound bus for the small town of Paradise where Nate is sure treasure awaits. Can they find the gold before Fortier gets his thieving hands on a treasure that rightfully belongs to Gramps? Larry Verstraete is an award winning author of 13 non-fiction books for young people. This is his first work of fiction.
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Excerpt:
Missing in Paradise is a mystery, adventure story about two boys, 14 year old Nate and 12 year old Simon who, after Nate discovers a box of odd items at a garage sale, embark on a search for lost shipment of gold in the far-off town of Paradise, certain they are fulfilling the ghostly request of Nate’s recently deceased grandfather and just as certain that they must find the treasure before Gram’s shifty neighbour, Fortier.
p. 43 – Chapter 13
Simon sat at his computer in front of a flickering screen. He wore a bike helmet wired with Christmas lights and a rabbit-ear antenna from an ancient TV. A long electrical cord ran from the helmet to a set of speakers he’d rescued from an old stereo.“What are you doing?” I peeked at the monitor. A title in neon colours blazed across the screen: How to Communicate with Aliens. “You can’t be serious.”
“Shh…listen. Can you hear that?”
I put my ear right up to the speaker. “Yeah. It’s called static. What were you expecting? Martians?”
Simon twisted a joy stick and turned up the volume. “Now?”
“More static. Will you just put that down for a minute? I need your help.”
Simon swung his chair around. He pulled off the bike helmet, eyed the box under my arm and craned his neck for a better look at the label. “Garden Supplies?”
“Not really.”
I set the box down, pulled out the shirt and briefcase, and laid everything on the floor. Simon’s eyes lit up when I launched into the story about finding the box. They grew wider still when I showed him the map, the location of Shipment #35, and the words Mildred must not know.
Simon ran his fingers over the box. “So your grandfather really was going after a shipment. Gold! A fortune in gold!”
ABOUT LARRY VERSTRAETE: Larry Verstraete, a retired teacher, has authored thirteen non-fiction books for young people and won multiple awards including the 2012 McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award and the 2010 Silver Birch Non-fiction Award. Missing in Paradise is his first work of fiction.
Giveaway Information: Winner will be drawn January 31, 2015
· Two (2) winners will received a signed copy of Missing in Paradise by Larry Verstraete (US/Canada)
· Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of Missing in Paradise by Larry Verstraete (INT)
This sounds like a fun read.
ReplyDeleteIt totally does :)
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