Mary Bubnik may be the clumsiest ballerina at the Deerfield Academy of Dance, but she loves the lessons and the camaraderie with her friends McGee, Zan, Gwen, and Rocky. In this fourth installment of the series, Mary’s mom is struggling with money problems, and Mary may have to quit ballet. What will the gang do without her? Fortunately, Zan reads about a contest with a cash prize that she’s sure the girls can win. All they have to do is solve a real-life mystery in their town. They find one sooner than they planned: someone has been stealing from the academy’s dressing room. When the snooty Bunheads accuse poor Mary Bubnik, the gang goes to work to find the real thief and restore Mary’s reputation.
Jahnna N. Malcolm is the pen name of American authors Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm HIllgartner. They have written more than 130 published books for children and young adults, with sales of more than 8 million. Their book series, The Jewel Kingdom was published by Scholastic in 1997. Their parenting book, I'm Counting to 10, a compilation of humorous columns they wrote for Sesame Street Parents magazine, received a Parent's Choice Silver Award for 2001.
Their musical Chaps! (Samuel French) has played at over 30 regional theatres around the US. Other musicals include They Came From Way Out There (premiere Oregon Cabaret Theatre, 2004) and Dogpark: The Musical (Samuel French, 2010). Their latest musical, Holmes and Watson Save the Empire, premiered at the Milwaukee Rep in October 2009.
Malcolm and Jahnna continue to work in the theatre as actors, directors and voice talents. Malcolm is an award-winning narrator of more than 60 audiobooks. They met while working as actors for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and were later married on the set of Twelfth Night at the old Empty Space Theatre in Seattle. Their passion for travel has taken them all over the world, from Thailand to Kenya. Their most recent adventure took them to Iceland to attend Elf School.
