Publication Date: November 2, 2003 | Age Level: 9 and up
A Newbery Award-winning Author
Someone has put up posters all over Middleburg warning townspeople that the dreaded Indiana Aztec bat, whose bite is often fatal, has been sighted in the area. What's more, bells placed in the church belfry in accordance with the will of a town benefactor are driving everyone mad. But what can be done about them? And who put up all those posters? Bernie and his friends Georgene and Weasel set out to find the answers.
Grade 4-6-Devotees of Bernie Magruder and his antics at the Bessledorf Hotel will find mystery and adventure in this humorous and rollicking installment. The author masterfully weaves a story line about church bells that ring out parts of a hymn every quarter hour as a gift from the deceased richest woman in Middleburg to her husband, driving residents crazy and into camps for and against; the appearance in the belfry of Indiana Aztec bats with a green glow; and a strange new hotel guest. The sixth grader and his friends find the surprising and satisfying solution to the mystery of the bats as Halloween approaches, and long before Officer Feeney and the other adults do. Naylor's characters are consistently well done, with father talking in clich‚s that express wisdom and humor, and she provides an old-time sense of community that is charming in its innocence. For readers who are not already Naylor fans, this welcome addition may be the book that leads them further into her work. JoAnn Jonas, Chula Vista Public Library, San Diego, CA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
I guess I've been writing for about as long as I can remember. Telling stories, anyway, if not writing them down. I had my first short story published when I was sixteen, and wrote stories to help put myself through college, planning to become a clinical psychologist. By the time I graduated with a BA degree, however, I decided that writing was really my first love, so I gave up plans for graduate school and began writing full time.
I'm not happy unless I spend some time writing every day. It's as though pressure builds up inside me, and writing even a little helps to release it. On a hard-writing day, I write about six hours. Tending to other writing business, answering mail, and just thinking about a book takes another four hours. I spend from three months to a year on a children's book, depending on how well I know the characters before I begin and how much research I need to do. A novel for adults, because it's longer, takes a year or more. When my work is going well, I wake early in the mornings, hoping it's time to get up. When the writing is hard and the words are flat, I'm not very pleasant to be around.
Getting an idea for a book is the easy part. Keeping other ideas away while I'm working on one story is what's difficult. My books are based on things that have happened to me, things I have heard or read about, all mixed up with imaginings. The best part about writing is the moment a character comes alive on paper, or when a place that existed only in my head becomes real. There are no bands playing at this moment, no audience applauding--a very solitary time, actually--but it's what I like most. I've now had more than 120 books published, and about 2000 short stories, articles and poems.
I live in Bethesda, Maryland, with my husband, Rex, a speech pathologist, who's the first person to read my manuscripts when they're finished. Our sons, Jeff and Michael, are grown now, but along with their wives and children, we often enjoy vacations together in the mountains or at the ocean. When I'm not writing, I like to hike, swim, play the piano and attend the theater.
I'm lucky to have my family, because they have contributed a great deal to my books. But I'm also lucky to have the troop of noisy, chattering characters who travel with me inside my head. As long as they are poking, prodding, demanding a place in a book, I have things to do and stories to tell.
A bit of mystery, a bit of adventure, a nice kid, good parents, and a friendly community. If there were "cozy" mysteries for kids, this would be a good example.
There's no magic and no fantasy world building, so I guess you'd call this a bit old fashioned, but it if your reader likes a cheerful mystery with a bit of humor, (sort of in the Sammy Keyes vein), then this book and its other series companions might be a good choice.
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Since I first picked up this book, to the time I put it down- I loved it! It was fantastic and wonderful. My older sister still loves these books too, so this is a read for anyone older than 9-12 years old, except it might be a little bit of an easy read.
Loved it!
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This 2004 winner of an Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Literature certainly will leave everyone talking! In Naylor's book of the Besseldorf mystery series, Bernie Magruder finds himself in the middle of strange happenings again! Not only are the bells in the belfry tower are ringing around the clock, someone has brought terror to the town by displaying posters warning of the invasion of Indiana Aztec Bats-a bat species NO ONE has heard of before. This has everyone in a frenzy and it is up to Bernie to find out what is going on. This book is perfect for the upcoming Halloween season, and if you like mystery and adventure with a twist of humor, you won't want to miss this one!
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