Books with author Brett Helquist

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. When Calder Pillay travels with his father to a remote village in England, he finds a mix of mazes and mystery . . . including an unexpected Alexander Calder sculpture in the town square. Calder is strangely drawn to the sculpture, while other people have less-than-friendly feelings towards it. Both the boy and the sculpture seem to be out of place . . . and then, on the same night, they disappear! Calder's friends Petra and Tommy must fly out to help his father find him. But this mystery has more twists and turns than a Calder mobile . . . with more at stake than first meets the eye.

Forget what you know about prophecies—this epic middle-grade fantasy about a clumsy boy born into a family of thieves is fresh, fun, and anything but predictable! The first in an unforgettable trilogy, this Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book of the Year takes everything you thought you knew about fantasy and spins it into pure magic.Jaxter Grimjinx is a born thief. At least, he's supposed to be. For generations, the Grimjinx clan has produced the swiftest, cleverest thieves in Vengekeep. The problem is, Jaxter is clumsy. So clumsy that in his first solo heist, he sets the Castellan's house on fire and lands his family in prison. Even Jaxter's talent for breaking magical locks can't get them out of this bind.Then a suspiciously convenient prophecy emerges, naming the Grimjinx clan as the soon-to-be heroes of Vengekeep. It's good enough to get his family out of jail, but when the doomsday prophecy starts to come true, Jaxter is pretty sure a life behind bars would be a better fate. Now, with the help of his new friend, Callie, Jaxter will have to face down flaming monsters, a bazaar of thieves, and a renegade sorcerer to become the hero he was truly born to be.Full of twists and turns, friendship and adventure, The Vengekeep Prophecies is a "rich fantasy that hits the ground running and never lets up" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Dear possible reader of this book, After I wrote my first book, "It Came from Beneath the Bed!," my editor asked me to write another one. (Another one! This is hard work! I'd like to see "him" write another one!) So anyway...in this book the lovable and smart (not to mention talented) wirehaired dachshund puppy named Howie and his friend, the beautiful and brilliant Delilah, face their biggest challenge yet: the Mind Swappers from Asteroid 6!(TM) Along the way Delilah gets turned into a squirrel and has to beg for acorns. (Hey, don't ask me! Read the book!)Your friend, Howie

The League of Seven is the first book in an action-packed, steampunk series by the acclaimed author of Samurai Shortstop, Alan Gratz. In an alternate 1875 America electricity is forbidden, Native Americans and Yankees are united, and eldritch evil lurks in the shadows. Young Archie Dent knows there really are monsters in the world. His parents are members of the Septemberist Society, whose job it is to protect humanity from hideous giants called the Mangleborn. Trapped in underground prisons for a thousand years, the giant monsters have been all but forgotten―but now they are rising again as the steam-driven America of 1875 rediscovers electricity, the lifeblood of the Mangleborn. When his parents and the rest of the Septemberists are brainwashed by one of the evil creatures, Archie must assemble a team of seven young heroes to save the world.