Must-Read-Monday (3): Under the Egg

Must-Read-Monday is a new feature here at The Hiding Spot. Each week I'll feature a book that, if it isn't already, should be on your radar!

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Under the Egg

by Laura Marx Fitzgerald

  

Available March 18, 2014 from Dial/Penguin
Recommended for Ages 8-12

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Renaissance secrets, World War II tragedy, and present day drama build to an unforgettable crescendo in Laura Marx Fitzgerald’s middle grade debut starring Theodora Tenpenny, an intelligent, self-reliant girl who stumbles upon a mystery that spans decades, continents, and oceans. When Theodora, startled by an unexpected rodent, spills rubbing alcohol on her late grandfather’s painting, she discovers the unimaginable. Beneath the innocuous painting of an egg, Theodora finds what appears to be a Renaissance masterpiece. Excitement and worry war within Theodora; her grandfather’s sudden death left Theo and her mother with a mere $463 dollars and a mysterious message to “look under the egg” to the Tenpenny name, which is not enough to keep their ramshackle house standing, nor to keep them in food for any length of time. Theo’s mother spends her days lost in mathematic formulas and theorems and is more Theo’s responsibility than guardian, so Theo is on her own. Perhaps this is the answer to the riddle of her grandfather’s last words… But Theo worries that the painting was not acquired through strictly legal channels. After all, her grandfather had access to priceless art as security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and why would he hide something that was rightfully his? Thus begins Theo’s search for the painting’s origins and the meaning of her grandfather’s last words. Secrets, some centuries old, some decades, some only a matter of weeks, days, and hours, come to light, forever changing the landscape of Theo’s and countless others’ lives. A sophisticated mystery featuring a resilient and intrepid protagonist, UNDER THE EGG is middle grade literature at its best.

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More about Laura Marx Fitzgerald

Must-Read-Monday (2): The Museum of Intanglible Things

Must-Read-Monday is a new feature here at The Hiding Spot. Each week I'll feature a book that, if it isn't already, should be on your radar!

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The Museum of Intangible Things

by Wendy Wunder

  

Available April 10, 2014 from Razorbill/Penguin

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Hannah and Zoe haven't been given much in life, except each other, and they don't have anything particularly wonderful waiting in their future. Unless you count enrolling at the local community college, which they don't. The only worthwhile tie the girls have to the New Jersey town they grew is Zoe's autistic brother, who relies on Zoe and Hannah to help him navigate the world and all the intangible things within it he struggles to understand. After climbing out of a dark depression, Zoe bounds into mania, declaring that Hannah might not have the best grip on the intangibles either. Hoping to recover the real Zoe in the midst of her cycles of depression and mania, Hannah agrees to ditch New Jersey and embark on a cross country road trip in search of those difficult to understand but absolutely essential intangibles: Loyalty. Envy. Obligation. Dreams. Disappointment. Fear. Negligence. Coping. Elation. Lust. Nature. Freedom. Heartbreak. Insouciance. Audacity. Gluttony. Belief. God. Karma. Knowing what you want (there is probably a French word for it). Saying Yes. Destiny. Truth. Devotion. Forgiveness. Life. Happiness (ever after).

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Click the links below for more information.

More about Wendy Wunder

More about Wunder's debut novel, The Probability of Miracles