A Picture's Worth a Thousand Clues

Book excerpt: Ten-year-old Michael Wilson notices that strange things are happening at old Mrs. Vernon's house, just two doors down from his Shaker Street home. Crates are going in and out of the house all night long, and Mrs. Vernon, a curator at an art museum, has wet paint in her yard, of all places. Can Michael and his friends Liv and Leo put their maker skills to work and create some gadgets to figure out what the odd, old woman is up to? After the mystery's solved, readers can recreate the Mysterious Makers' tools with included instructions, and a glossary, discussion questions, and writing prompts offer reading support.