Amazon Cynthia's Attic - Shake Off The Cobwebs Category:  Children Publisher: Quake ISBN-10:  1590805755 Pages: 160 Copyright: DEC 1, 2007 ISBN-13: 9781590805755 Colorful Pirates, SuRana, a shape-shifting puma, and an old Cajun guide named Mud Bug, join Cynthia and Gus, in Cynthia's Attic: Curse of the Bayou. Twelve-year-old best friends travel from their Southern Indiana home through the magic trunk in Cynthia's attic to a 1914 Louisiana bayou searching for Cynthia's great-grandfather, Beau Connor. Discovering a connection between Beau and Buzzard Jack LaBuse, the meanest, orneriest pirate this side of the Mississippi, leads to a heart-stopping confrontation to recover a long-lost treasure and lift a family curse.       Mary Cunningham caters her stories to the middle grades and is finding them well received in schools nationwide. As an advocate of literacy for youth, she offers an enchanting method for bringing the written word into the lives of children. Pre-order TODAY online or from your favorite bookstore.   Excerpt "No," she whispered. "I swear I put it in my pocket, but, it's gone." How did we keep losing that watch? I looked around, hoping to spot something…anything to help us get loose. Even if we could stand up, where would we go? Jumping overboard, tied together like this, would mean sure death. Rocking gently on deck, as the lake breeze buffeted the sails, we heard the pirates below, laughing, and planning their next move—locating the lost treasure, and then "getting rid of" us. Another raucous laugh. I looked at the stars. The sky was a solid, radiant blanket. "The Milky Way," my dad would point out. "That's our galaxy, Gus. Remember to always respect the beauty and vastness of the universe." A tear slipped from my cheek. I will another night, Dad. I couldn't bring myself to appreciate anything at that moment. I pulled my knees in tight and lowered my head. Maybe things will look better tomorrow.

Fabulous young adult time travel mystery
In Indiana in 1964 best friends Cynthia and Gus decide to learn what happened to the former's great-grandfather Beau who vanished in 1915 while on a business trip. The two best friends enter the attic of Cynthia's home and the trunk sends them through time where they avoid being alligator bait thanks to some bologna Gus had. The quickly learn it is 1914 when they meet octogenarian Mouton" Mud Bug" Boudreau who warns the two young girls to avoid pirates like Buzzard Jack LaBuse. He begins taking them by canoe to New Orleans when he and his boat vanish.

The two buddies find themselves in 1844 where Jasmine is quite nice to them and so is her ten years old son Mooty called Mud Bug by everyone. From there the clues take them to 1915 and the farm of Samantha Connor whose spouse Beau vanished last year on a business trip in New Orleans. The girls know they are getting closer to finding Beau but wonder where they will go next in time.

The third Cynthia's Attic young adult time travel mysteries (see Magic Medallion and MISSING LOCKET) is a fabulous tale as the two intrepid best friends journey back and forth through time. The preadolescent pair remains consistent even with Gus having some non hunger moments while the support cast especially Mud Bug as an elderly person and a child make for a fun Bayou adventure with a fantastic final twist setting up the next entry.

Harriet Klausner