The 13th Floor: A Ghost Story

Hold on to your hats-there's never a dull moment when Fleischman (The Whipping Boy) is at the helm. A rollicking ride, this tale by the Newbery Medalist casts off into comic adventure with the young orphan Buddy, his lawyer sister, and a magical elevator that whisks them 300 years into the past. Fleischman deftly juggles several equally entertaining story lines, one involving a pirate ship and a hidden treasure, another focused on a 10-year-old girl accused of witchcraft in Puritan Boston, and a third revolving around Buddy and his sister's present-day struggle to pay off their recently deceased parents' debts and keep the family home. Liberally laced with dry wit and thoroughly satisfying-in Fleischman's world, villains always get their just deserts and endings are as happy as they are unexpected-readers could hardly ask for more. Ages 8-up. (Oct.)