A young orphan named Lewis Barnavelt aids his magical uncle in locating a clock with the power to bring about the end of the world.

Frank Adler is a single man raising a child prodigy, his spirited young niece Mary, in a coastal town in Florida. Frank's plans for a normal school life for Mary are foiled when the seven-year-old's mathematical abilities come to the attention of Frank's formidable mother Evelyn, whose plans for her granddaughter threaten to separate Frank and Mary.

Binky Braverman's stay with his aunt and uncle in Memphis unexpectedly proves to be full of adventure when characters on the boxes and jars in their kitchen come to life and become his friends.

Wilson is one of the most bullied fourth-graders at the chaotic Very Elementary School until his long-lost uncle, Desperate Evil Wicked Bob--a pirate--and his talking penguin arrive and begin making everything ship-shape, one classroom at a time.

In the quiet village of Noon Sun, Benedict Stone lives out the stagnant life of an unhappily married jeweler, until the daughter of his estranged brother arrives from America and turns his whole life upside down.

When a fellow passenger dies on the historic Safari Star as it rides through South Africa, amateur sleuth Hal Beck is determined to figure out if foul play is involved and who is responsible before they reach their final destination.

When Peter goes on an African adventure with his beloved Uncle Nigel, who hopes to spot a rare gorilla, the oblivious Nigel urges Peter on by telling him to have gumption, while Peter keeps his eyes open and uses his ingenuity.

"Bram moves to the small town of Louth in order to help her uncle start his new inn, but when she discovers a legacy of silenced women tied to her new home, she sets out to investigate the truth behind the town's 'Dead Girl' myths"--

After thirteen-year-old Tucker Feye's parents disappear, he suspects that the strange disks of shimmering air that he keeps seeing are somehow involved, and when he steps inside of one he is whisked on a time-twisting journey trailed by a shadowy sect of priests and haunted by ghostlike figures.

Eleven-year-old Primrose living in a small fishing village in British Columbia recounts her experiences and all that she learns about human nature and the unpredictability of life in the months after her parents are lost at sea.