Books with author Bill Farnsworth

Introducing Wunderkind Elsie the OverachieverE. W. Farnsworth’s latest character creation—Elsie Landers--comes from a distinguished family of real secret agents. Her parents and teachers recognize her brilliance and encourage her to achieve excellence through extracurricular activities at her school. Three stories in this volume document her evolving roles as photographer for her school newspaper. Her analytical, problem-solving mind and operational style make mundane tasks into fascinating mysteries as well as learning experiences for herself and everyone in her elite circle. The second three stories in this volume extend her interests and responsibilities beyond “ace photographer” to editor-in-chief and leader of her peers, focusing on a cluster of pressing problems of our time as seen from the young students' unique point of view.

What self-respecting young lady would not like to be up to her waist in soupy, smelly bat dung after falling off a cliff in the dark of a cave? This Young Adult novella about three female scout cavers breaks all the gender rules. The heroine and her two proteges go where no scouts have gone and blaze a trail toward a spelunking merit badge. They make weird discoveries deep underground and become adept at investigating formerly unknown places. Diamondback rattlesnakes, gila monsters and spiders as large as small puppies do not frighten them. Bats are a special problem, though, as they prefer fly into a girl’s hair. Struggle as they may to achieve their goal of a merit badge, the forces of scouting tradition are, for now at least, too strong to overcome. Still, they gain recognition and respect for their achievements. The older mentoring young woman receives an invitation she cannot refuse, and her whole world turns upside down.