New Releases by E.L. Konigsburg

Now with a brand-new look! A National Book Award Finalist Thoroughly bored of Heaven, Eleanor of Aquitaine passes the time by looking back over her long and complicated life in this charming and wryly humorous speculative middle grade novel from E.L. Konigsburg, the Newbery Medal–winning author of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife to two kings, mother to two others, has been waiting in Heaven a long time—eight centuries, more or less—to be reunited with her second husband, Henry II of England. Finally, the day has come when Henry will be judged for admission. While Eleanor, never a patient woman in life or afterlife, waits, three people, each of whom was close to Eleanor during a time of her life, join her. Their reminiscences do far more than help distract Eleanor—they also paint a rich portrait of an extraordinary woman who was front and center in a remarkable period in history and whose accomplishments have had an important influence on society through the ages.

Jeanmarie and Malcolm meet Tallulah, the ghost of a once-famous actress, who sends them on a quest to find the Regina Stone--the diamond she wore until it was stolen when she died. But they soon find more than they bargained for.

Connor is sure his best friend, Branwell, couldn''t have hurt Branwell''s baby half sister, Nikki. But Nikki lies in a coma, and Branwell is in a juvenile behavioral center, suspected of a horrible crime and unable to utter the words to tell what really happened. Connor is the only one who might be able to break through Branwell''s wall of silence. But how can he prove Branwell didn''t commit the unspeakable act of which he''s accused — when Branwell can''t speak for himself?

Poor Little Rich Boy Winston Carmichael has it all: a big house, servants, vacations in Palm Beach, and a fancy private school. But with overprotective parents and a sense of responsibility for his younger sister, Heidi, Winston sometimes feels more as if he''s living in a prison than a dream. Then one day a woman appears at the front door claiming to be Caroline -- Winston''s half sister, who was kidnapped and presumed dead long before he and Heidi were born. Is she really Caroline? Is she an imposter? Or is she something far more complicated than either? And does she hold the key that could unlock the door to Winston''s prison?

Mark Setzer thought studying for his Bar Mitzvah and having his best friend move away created enough aggravation in his life. But then his mother becomes the new manager of his Little League team and drags his older brother, Spencer, along as coach. Miraculously, the team thrives, but in the process Mark learns some unpleasant truths about someone he thought he knew.

Who is George? Only Howard Carr and his older brother, Ben, can answer that question, because only they know about George. George is the funny little man who lives inside Ben, helping him (mostly) navigate life as a sixth grader who happens to be a scientific genius and who happens to be studying organic chemistry with students much older than he. One of those students is William Hazlitt, a senior who has been Ben''s lab partner in previous years. William''s interest in chemistry has taken a troubling turn, and Ben has a plan to come to his rescue. And that''s when things get complicated -- for Howard, for Ben, and for George.

Four funny and perceptive short stories in which young people cope with difficult situations and in doing so learn something that changes their lives.

In TalkTalk E. L. Konigsburg presents a selection of speeches she has given over a period of 25 years. In her introduction to the first speech, and to the book as a whole, she explains: "While each of my books has been written because I had a story I wanted to tell, these speeches were written because I had something I wanted to say. The audience for the former is children; for the latter, adults.... I recognize -- with a measure of amused detachment -- that some were written as a reaction to trends; others, to fads. I have given these talks in cafetoriums, auditoriums, and the public rooms of Holiday Inns. Even though I have not always been on a stage when addressing an audience, I have tried to set the stage. Between talk and talk, I have written passages connecting the speeches to the time in which they were written and to one another. And that is TalkTalk." Always a thought-provoking speaker, she has chosen nine speeches that capture the essence of her years as a writer for children. When brought together, they enrich one another and provide a chance to look back at what children''s books have been, to observe where they are now and to offer an insightful look at what books may continue to mean to children in the years to come. Written by an outstanding author, these speeches, individually and together, represent a vision of the need for books and the role books have played and should continue to play in the lives of children.

From the Newbery Medal–winning author of the beloved classic From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler comes four jewel-like short stories—one for each of the team members of an Academic Bowl team—that ask questions and demonstrate surprising answers. How had Mrs. Olinski chosen her sixth-grade Academic Bowl team? She had a number of answers. But were any of them true? How had she really chosen Noah and Nadia and Ethan and Julian? And why did they make such a good team? It was a surprise to a lot of people when Mrs. Olinski’s team won the sixth-grade Academic Bowl contest at Epiphany Middle School. It was an even bigger surprise when they beat the seventh grade and the eighth grade, too. And when they went on to even greater victories, everyone began to ask: How did it happen? It happened at least partly because Noah had been the best man (quite by accident) at the wedding of Ethan’s grandmother and Nadia’s grandfather. It happened because Nadia discovered that she could not let a lot of baby turtles die. It happened when Ethan could not let Julian face disaster alone. And it happened because Julian valued something important in himself and saw in the other three something he also valued. Mrs. Olinski, returning to teaching after having been injured in an automobile accident, found that her Academic Bowl team became her answer to finding confidence and success. What she did not know, at least at first, was that her team knew more than she did the answer to why they had been chosen.

"ninety percent of who you are is invisible." Amedeo Kaplan seems just like any other new kid who has moved into the town of St. Malo, Florida, a navy town where new faces are the norm. But Amedeo has a secret, a dream: More than anything in the world, he wants to discover something -- a place, a process, even a fossil -- some treasure that no one realizes is there until he finds it. And he would also like to discover a true friend to share these things with. William Wilcox seems like an unlikely candidate for friendship: an aloof boy who is all edges and who owns silence the way other people own words. When Amedeo and William find themselves working together on a house sale for Amedeo''s eccentric neighbor, Mrs. Zender, Amedeo has an inkling that both his wishes may come true. For Mrs. Zender''s mansion is crammed with memorabilia of her long life, and there is a story to go with every piece. Soon the boys find themselves caught up in one particular story -- a story that links a sketch, a young boy''s life, an old man''s reminiscence, and a painful secret dating back to the outrages of Nazi Germany. It''s a story that will take them to the edge of what they know about heroism and the mystery of the human heart. Two-time Newbery winner E. L. Konigsburg spins a magnificent tale of art, discovery, friendship, history, and truth.

An ten-year-old orphan comes to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors and discovers an invalid cousin and a mysterious locked garden.

Spending the summer in Florida with her stepfather''s sister who operates a "meals-on-wheels" van, twelve-year-old Chloee and her aunt become involved in a controversy surrounding the wearing of T-back bathing suits.

The long-awaited new novel by the two-time Newbery Medalist stars Margaret Rose Kane, Connor Kane''s older half-sister in "Silent to the Bone," who tells the story of the summer she was 12 years old.

2017 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved classic From the Mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Claudia knew that she could never pull off the old-fashioned kind of running away....She didn''t like discomfort....Therefore, she decided that her leaving home would not be just running from somewhere but would be running to somewhere. To a large place, a comfortable place, an indoor place, and preferably a beautiful place. And that''s why she decided upon the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. -- from From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler When Claudia decided to run away, she planned very carefully. She would be gone just long enough to teach her parents a lesson in Claudia appreciation. And she would go in comfort -- she would live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She saved her money, and she invited her brother Jamie to go, mostly because he was a miser and would have money. Claudia was a good organizer and Jamie had some ideas too; so the two took up residence at the museum right on schedule. But once the fun of settling in was over, Claudia had two unexpected problems: She felt just the same and she wanted to feel different; and she found a statue at the Museum so beautiful she could not go home until she discovered its maker, a question that baffled the experts, too. The former owner of the statue was Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Without her -- well, without her, Claudia might never have found a way to go home. For many years E. L. Konigsburg''s story has entranced readers of all ages. This special anniversary edition contains a new afterword from the author, along with a few extra surprises to delight readers old and new.

Samuel Todd shows readers some inventions that make his day easier and better, including velcro, a thermos bottle, training wheels, backpacks, and mittens.