New Releases by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Nine novels from a three-time Newbery Honor author whose "tales of wonder, mystery, and suspense beguiled two generations of children and young adults" ( The New York Times). Blending realism and fantasy, Zilpha Keatley Snyder was a master at drawing young readers into mesmerizing worlds. Collected in one volume, here are some of her most memorable and beloved novels. The Velvet Room explores ranch life for a child of a former migrant worker. Cat Running offers a unique glimpse into one girl''s experience when her family takes in a malnourished, barefooted "Okie" during the Depression In Song of the Gargoyle, thirteen-year-old Tymmon befriends a strange and enchanted forest creature. In The Trespassers, a boy and his sister discover a secret hideaway in a deserted mansion—and maybe a ghost. And in Fool''s Gold, a group of teens discover a map that leads them through dangerous, abandoned gold mines. This treasury is a perfect introduction to the novels of one of the most revered figures in children''s literature.

During the year that the Stanley family spends living near Florence, Amanda boasts once too often of her wealthy father in America and the result is a kidnapping involving all the Stanley children.

DIVDIVNewbery Medal winner Zilpha Keatley Snyder delves into the paranormal in this story of a teenage boy who makes an extraordinary discovery/divDIV The whole thing started six years ago when Dion James was around eight or nine. He got a shoe-shining gig on the corner of Palm and Eighth, outside the big glass-and-bronze doors of Alcott-Simpson’s department store. With his unruly hair and bad limp from polio, Dion looked like a refugee. Envisioning himself one day working at Alcott-Simpson’s, he cleans up his act and starts dressing better. /divDIV Fourteen-year-old Dion still dreams of working at the luxury department store when he sees a girl with big black eyes and long black hair pursued by store detectives for stealing a sweater. A few days later, Dion is in the store when he hears a scream, and all hell breaks loose. Locked in after the store empties out, Dion sees a familiar figure: the sweater thief. Her name is Sara, and soon she and Dion are eyewitnesses to a bizarre series of events that have no rational explanation./divDIV Who is Sara? And why is there a pair of eyes in the mink-lined fishbowl?/divDIV This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div/div

DIVDIVFifteen-year-old James has just discovered the magnificence of nature—but can he protect it from the phoniness of the material world?/divDIV When his academic-minded parents decide to forsake civilization for a wilderness summer in the Sierra Nevada mountains, James Fielding figures he’ll be counting the minutes until it’s over. But in the woods one day, he comes upon a magnificent deer and becomes fascinated by its majesty and beauty. Then he meets two very different girls. Thirteen-year-old Griffin Donahue is “pure and free and beautiful.” Diane Jarrett is a tanned, “hot-pink-bikinied” goddess. Griffin is at one with nature. Diane is slumming at the nearby exclusive camp, with its decadent luxury and A-list guests. When these two worlds collide, threatening the existence of the stag, James embarks on a quest to find a friend who’s gone missing—and to save a life./divDIV This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div/div

DIVDIVSummer is just a teenager, but sometimes she feels like the parent/divDIV Fifteen-year-old Summer McIntyre lives with her mother, Oriole, and seven-year-old sister, Sparrow, in a trailer in Alvarro Bay City, overlooking the Pacific. Oriole is a Northern California flower child who fantasizes about being at one with nature and forgets about needing money. Even though she’s only fifteen, Summer is good at being Mom./divDIV That is, until Oriole’s new boyfriend upsets the precarious balance in their lives. Suddenly Summer has to protect her family as she copes with the dangers of drug-smuggling, blackmailing, and even terrorism./divDIV Set during the 1980s, The Birds of Summer is the story of a teenager with the responsibilities of adulthood thrust upon her shoulders, who learns how to adapt . . . and how to survive. Winner of the PEN Literary Award and the Parents’ Choice Award./divDIV This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div/div

From three-time Newbery Medal winner Zilpha Keatley Snyder comes the story of three desperate kids who just want to run away Dani O’Donnell hates the dusty desert town of Rattler Springs and the ramshackle cabin where she lives with her widowed mother. On the eve of her thirteenth birthday, Dani hatches a plan to run away and return home to Sea Grove, California, with its palm trees and ocean breezes. But her scheme gets complicated when Stormy Arigotti, a dyslexic nine-year-old, decides he wants in. As if that weren’t enough, a big-city family just set up shop on the rundown ranch Dani’s mother inherited from her husband—and the daughter, Pixie Smithson, wants to join the runaway group. Pixie’s the strangest girl Dani has ever met, but now they have to think about practical things, like raising money for three bus tickets. For Dani, Stormy, and Pixie, running away might not turn out to be the great adventure they envisioned. This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

DIVDIVIt’s the girls against the boys when the fight for a baseball diamond erupts into an all-out war/divDIV Fifth graders Eddy Wong, Carlos Garcia, and Bucky “Buckaroo” Brockhurst all live in the Castle Court apartment complex. They’re part of a special club called the PROs. They plan to build a baseball diamond on the site of the deserted Dragoman property and are already picking out balls, mitts, and bats./divDIV Kate Nicely and Aurora and Athena Pappas also live at Castle Court. They believe the vacant lot is a magical grove and a perfect haven for unicorns. No way are they letting those insensitive boys cut down their precious trees. The girls hold a council meeting in the Pappas gazebo to plot their next move. Families take sides. And the full-scale battle to claim the land begins./divDIV This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./divDIV/div/div

DIVDIVThe Castle Court Kids are back—and this time, they’re teaming up to fight the bad guys/divDIV Kate Nicely and her BFF, Aurora Pappas, haven’t told anyone about their top-secret science project that’s going to win first place at the Annual Interschool Science Fair. Carlos Garcia, Bucky Brockhurst, and Eddy Wong are working on one, too, if they could just agree on an idea that isn’t lame. But everyone could lose to Aurora’s kid brother, Carson, and Eddy’s younger brother, Web, who everyone at school knows is a genius. Does Web’s secret project have something to do with the two sinister-looking men in a black van who’ve been lurking around Castle Court? The rumors spread like wildfire: Web is developing some kind of secret weapon and terrorists are trying to steal it. That’s when the Castle Court Kids decide to form the top-secret AT Club (that’s Anti-Terrorist, of course). With the kids—and one enormous Saint Bernard—outnumbering the bad guys, all they have to do is wait for the perfect time to strike./divDIV This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div/div

From a three-time Newbery Honor author: Harry Houdini Marco had it hard enough as a normal clumsy twelve-year-old—but growing wings made it even worse. Except for his unusual name, Harry Houdini Marco is unremarkable in every way. While his namesake was the greatest illusionist of all time, Harry can’t even catch a ball. He is on the verge of a long, boring summer—and he is dreading every moment of it. Then he meets a mysterious traveling salesman named Mr. Mazzeeck. But Mr. Mazzeeck is more than a traveling salesman, he’s a wizard—at least, he claims to be. Before he leaves town, Mr. Mazzeeck gives Harry a bottle of magical oil, saying that the potion will give him wings. And to Harry’s amazement, the oil works: He gets wings! Now he just has to figure out how to use them. This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

DIVHalcyon House has everything: a beautiful location, incredible amenities, and life-threatening danger/divDIV In the beautiful Northern California coastal town of Monterey, Halcyon House is exactly the kind of place that any kid would want to explore. It’s huge, abandoned, and— rumor has it—haunted. Neely and her little brother, Grub, are determined to get inside. The two siblings climb through an open window and find an old nursery, filled with old toys and, possibly, a ghost./divDIV /divDIVThe siblings’ trespassing ends, however, when the mysterious Hutchinson family arrives and reclaims the house. Neely and Grub should be in trouble, but instead Curtis Hutchinson welcomes the siblings in with open arms. But as Neely spends more time at Halcyon House, she realizes that this mansion and its inhabitants are far more dangerous than she could have possibly imagined./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div

Ivy and Martha are not ordinary best friends. Ivy is a changeling with supernatural powers—or at least that’s what she says . . . Martha is incredibly unpopular. She’s overweight, buck-toothed, and shy. Ivy is an outcast. Her family lives on the outskirts of town amid a field of derelict orchards. But starting in second grade, the girls form a bond that allows them to take control of their own lives. It all begins when Ivy tells Martha that she is no ordinary girl: She claims she’s a changeling, switched with the real Ivy at birth. With the strength of Ivy’s friendship, Martha becomes more confident and sure of herself. And through their bond, Ivy gains the normalcy she needs, away from life with her tumultuous family. When the two girls play, they enter an elaborate fantasy world all their own. But when the real world threatens to split them apart, their friendship becomes more important than ever. This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

DIVFinding a special place where you can be at peace is difficult—but holding onto it is even harder/divDIV The last three years of Robin Williams’s life have been very difficult. She’s had to move with her large, poor family multiple times as her father seeks jobs as a migrant worker. Now, her father has a new job at the McCurdy Ranch and Robin often wanders off in order to cope with the constant change and difficulty surrounding her./divDIV /divDIVNear the McCurdy Ranch is the Palmeras House, an old abandoned house that Robin is told repeatedly not to explore. However, with a little help, she finds herself inside the building, in the one place it seems she has always been looking for: the Velvet Room. This plush room is the most beautiful place she has ever seen. Robin is fascinated and enchanted, but she can’t help but wonder: Why is it there? /divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div

In this “vividly drawn fantasy” from the Newbery Honoree, the trees of Green-sky are peaceful, while Teera struggles to survive below the forest floor (Publishers Weekly). While the Kindar thrive in the leafy utopia of Green-sky, the Erdlings struggle to survive in their underground caves and tunnels. Hunger threatens, and Teera, an eight-year-old Erdling, is forced to run away before her pet, Haba, is killed for food. Once away, Teera finds her way to the beautiful forest floor, where the sights are breathtaking and the food is abundant. There, she meets the friendly Ol-zhaan Raamo and Neric. Teera and her new Ol-zhaan friends want to reveal the truth about life above and below the trees, but powerful forces are at work to ensure that the two worlds remain apart. This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

In the “Newbery Honor–winning author’s compelling fantasy” for young adults, a boy is chosen to rule his idyllic land—only to discover its dark secrets (Publishers Weekly). Green-sky is an ideal place. Violence doesn’t exist. Its citizens, the Kindar, glide from tree to tree and exchange happy thoughts. This is all thanks to their rulers, the Ol-zhaan. And on his thirteenth birthday, Raamo D’ok is chosen to become one of the Ol-zhaan. Raamo is surprised to be named a Chosen. He isn’t a very good student—but the Ol-zhaan believe he has strong Spirit-force. But during his training, Raamo discovers that these good rulers aren’t as benevolent as they appear. They harbor secrets about his people, his family, and what lies below the forest floor. Now Raamo must decide: Should he keep the peace, or reveal the secrets that the Ol-zhaan have protected for so long? This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

DIVGib might have finally found the family he’s always wanted. Will he be adopted for good?/divDIV No child wants an extended stay in the Lovell House Home for Orphaned and Abandoned Boys. And in the sequel to Gib Rides Home, Gib, a smart, resourceful eleven-year-old orphan, returns to the Thornton family’s ranch, hoping for a much happier experience this time. Instead of the farm labor that most orphans his age are forced to do, he gets the benefits of being part of the family: reduced chores and the freedom to go to school./divDIV /divDIVLuckily, Gib also has a way with horses—and life with Livy, the irrepressible Thornton daughter, proves that horses can be much easier to deal with than people. When a whipped and starved horse comes to the Thornton Ranch during a blizzard, Gib finds a way to save this incredible creature. And while helping the horse recuperate and acclimate to his new home, Gib realizes that he may have finally found a permanent home of his own./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder./div

When the four Stanley children meet Amanda, their new stepsister, they’re amazed to learn that she studies witchcraft. They’re stunned to see her dressed in a strange costume, carrying a pet crow and surrounded by a pile of books about the supernatural. It’s not long before Amanda promises to give witchcraft lessons to David, Jamie, and the twins. But that’s when strange things start happening in their old house. David suspects Amanda of causing mischief, until they learn that the house really was haunted long ago. Legend has it that a ghost cut the head off of a wooden cupid on the stairway. Has the ghost returned to strike again?

Cats. Jessica’s never liked them. Especially not a skinny, ugly kitten that looks like a worm. Worm. Jessica wishes she’d never brought Worm home with her, because now he’s making her do terrible things. She’s sure she isn’t imagining the evil voice coming from the cat, telling her to play mean tricks on people. But how can she explain what’s happening? Witches. Jessica has read enough books to know that Worm must be a witch’s cat. He’s cast a spell on her, but whom can she turn to? After all, no one will believe that Worm has bewitched her...or worse!

Despite the harsh treatment he has endured at the Lovell House orphanage, ten-year-old Gib Whittaker manages to maintain his hopeful outlook when he is "farmed out" to help with the horses of a wealthy banker in 1908.

This classic 1968 Newbery Honor Book, The Egypt Game, is available in a brand new paperback edition!