The Phantom Vale (Paperback)
Eleven-year-old Nathan Cole was never much of a reader-not until he discovered a mysterious bookcase hidden in the shadows of the attic. The bookcase had once belonged to his grandfather, a noted bookseller from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and it called to Nathan from the moment he first saw it-as if it had a mind of its own.Nathan soon learns that the books lining its dusty shelves have been saved for a reason: they each contain an unsolved mystery. Even more curiously, it seems that he doesn't choose the books he takes from its shelves-they choose him. And now another book is calling to him. In it is a mystery that dates back to the 1800s-the baffling account of a boxcar that seemingly vanished into thin air-from a moving train-in a town that doesn't exist. Only with the help of his best friend, Gina McDermott, can he hope to unravel a secret that has haunted a small New Hampshire town for generations.But they aren't alone.Someone is watching.And waiting.
Alfred M. Struthers lives in Peterbororough, New Hampshire, with his wife and their incorrigible dog, Manny. He is the author of The Case of Secrets and The Phantom Vale. In addition to being a writer of books that inspire, entertain and make a difference in the lives of young readers, he is a singer/songwriter, furniture maker, and avid collector of fossils from the streambeds around Cooperstown, New York.