SECRETS OF THE SHOPPING MALL (Laurel-Leaf Contemporary Fiction) (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Paradise Park becomes home for runaways Barnie and Teresa, and just when they think they can live there unnoticed forever, they find that even in the dead of night, they are far from alone.

From the Publisher

Trying to escape the vicious King Kobra gang and troubled life at home, eighth graders Barnie and Teresa flee the city. With only four dollars between them, they hop a bus, hoping to find a new life at the end of the line. Destination: Paradise Park. But Paradise Park turns out to be a cement-covered suburban shopping mall--not quite the paradise they had hoped for.

With no money and no home to return to, they are forced to stay. And paradise park takes them in--in more ways than one. Barnie and Teresa spend their days and nights in the climate-controlled consumer paradise of a large department store. And just when they think they can live there unnoticed forever, Teresa and Barnie find that even Paradise Park has its secrets. Even in the dead of night, they are far from alone....

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (October 15, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440980992
• ISBN-13: 978-0440980995
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,418,058 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Concrete Paradise, May 29, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Secrets of the Shopping Mall (Paperback)

Secrets of the Shopping Mall by Richard Peck is a very interesting and enjoyable book. Two middle school aged children, Barnie and Teresa, run away from home to escape the King Kobra gang. After being defeated in a `fight' the gang was out for revenge and would surely kill Barnie and Teresa if they found them. With only two dollars each, the two hop on a bus and head to Paradise Park. But this place was no paradise instead it was a huge shopping mall.
Barnie was an intelligent kid and had moved up to the eighth grade from the seventh, He helped Teresa and himself live a somewhat comfortable life, hiding out in the shopping mall until one strange and eventful night. They are captured by store manikins that have a whole hidden world that comes alive after store hours end. The leader of the manikins, Barbie, says they will have a trial to determine if Barnie and Teresa are Mouth Breathers (manikins mortal enemies). If found guilty the price could be there lives. Will Teresa and Barnie get out of the shopping mall with their lives? Read the book and find out the answer. Any and all Richard Peck fans will love this book although I would recommend it to readers of all genres and authors.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars secrets, November 9, 2005

A Kid's Review

I really liked this book because it was adventures. Sometimes it was like one minute it was whats going to happen next and the other times it relaxed. I recomend this book for people who likes adventures. My favorite part was when the main character and the new kid ran away to the shopping mall and durring the night the suciritygard came to where they were hidding with his cat.The cat came under the bed she was hidding under and started to howl. she got really scard but then the grad just walked away it was really exciting!!! I would tell you about the ending... But i would spoil it. So you will go have to read it for your self. I hope you like this book when you read it. not everyone will like it but I thought it was a really good book!!!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A classic Rod Sterling epiphany, January 3, 2005

By	D. Ray "conspiracy theorist" (Alabama) - See all my reviews

This is one of those books I stumbled across at 11 years old, read in an afternoon,and was haunted by to this day.Every kid at that age wonders what goes on in the other world-the shopping mall late at night and ponders its potential as a refuge from parents, school, or in this case a gang of hoodlums.The story flows along smoothly with plenty of small suprises but no horrible shocks to keep one awake at night. I certainly recommend it as a stepping stone-kids that read this will likely go on to enjoy Mannequin with Andrew McCarthy, and come full circle by watching Dawn of the Dead. Of note: there is a similar episode of the Twilight Zone where a young woman is shopping in a high end department store. She feels watched,hears her name whispered,(MAAAARRSHAAA...) and winds up on a floor not offered by the elevator buttons. She comes to find out that all the mannequins are "alive" and take turns going out for one month to see the real world.She has been long overdue- it's another Dummy's (sorry, I can't resist)-turn! Anyhow, the book spooked me then and still has me wondering...