Vanderpool Clare Books

Winner of the 2011 Newbery Award, this story follows Abilene Tucker, who feels abandoned when her father sends her on a train to live with an old friend for the summer. With only a few belongings and a list of universals, she arrives in Manifest, Kansas, hoping to learn about her father’s past. However, she is disappointed to find the town is just a faded shadow of its former self. Her disappointment turns to excitement when she uncovers a hidden cigar box filled with mementos and letters mentioning a spy known as the Rattler. This discovery sparks a thrilling spy hunt with her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, despite warnings to Leave Well Enough Alone. Abilene's curiosity leads her down the mysterious Path to Perdition to seek out Miss Sadie, a reclusive diviner who shares stories of the past. As Abilene delves deeper into Manifest's colorful and secretive history, she becomes increasingly determined to uncover her father's role in it. With each revelation, she begins to weave her own narrative into the town's rich tapestry. This debut novel is a powerful exploration of loss and redemption, enriched with historical detail.

Abruptly placed in a boy's boarding school in Maine after his mother's death at the end of World War II, Kansas youth Jack Baker befriends Early Auden, an unusual boy with whom Jack embarks on a quest along the Appalachian Trail in search of a legend

At the end of World War II, Jack Baker, a landlocked Kansas boy, is suddenly uprooted after his mother’s death and placed in a boy’s boarding school in Maine. There, Jack encounters Early Auden, the strangest of boys, who reads the number pi as a story and collects clippings about the sightings of a great black bear in the nearby mountains. Newcomer Jack feels lost yet can’t help being drawn to Early, who won’t believe what everyone accepts to be the truth about the Great Appalachian Bear, Timber Rattlesnakes, and the legendary school hero known as The Fish, who never returned from the war. When the boys find themselves unexpectedly alone at school, they embark on a quest on the Appalachian Trail in search of the great black bear. But what they are searching for is sometimes different from what they find. They will meet truly strange characters, each of whom figures into the pi story Early weaves as they travel, while discovering things they never realized about themselves and others in their lives.