Books with author C Lee McKenzie

A cryptic map promises Sam Denny treasure, but desperate thieves are out to stop him anyway they can. Will this map lead him into a death trap? After six months in a new school, Sam’s finally fitting in. He’s the one player with enough talent to hit the winning home run and bring the baseball trophy back to Haggarty Elementary. But Sam’s guardian is shipping him off to boarding school before the big game.When teammates, Joey and Roger, hear his bad news, they plot to hide him so he can go to bat for his school. Their secret cave is a perfect place until an earthquake shatters a wall and reveals a wooden chest with a red-eyed dragon carved into its top. Inside, the bony hand of a skeleton clutches a map and a cryptic note promising treasure.With Joey and Roger, Sam sets off to track down the mysterious clues. Just when the puzzle pieces start to make sense, the boys become lost in a labyrinth of underground tunnels, trapped by evil-hearted thieves, and sealed inside an airless tomb. If you like mysteries, mythical dragons, and intrepid kids on dangerous quests, you'll love C Lee McKenzie's fast-paced and exciting tale. As the San Francisco Review of Books says, this writer has “a dazzling sense of appreciation for magic, spells, strange objects and stranger encounters that make her books so inviting.”Buy now and jump into the adventure.

Pete Riley’s just found out he has magical powers, but he’s flanked by angry alligators on one side and a powerful witch out for revenge on the other. Will his twelfth birthday be his last?Alligators, witches and spooky mansions aren't your average neighbors unless you live at the edge of the Ornofree swamp in the backwater town of Hadleyville. Pete’s the town's bad boy, and he may only be a kid, but he's up to his eyeballs in big trouble. Strangely, this time he isn't the cause. This time the trouble arrives when a legendary hundred-year-old mansion materializes next door and the Ornofree alligators declare war to save their swamp from bulldozers. Things only get worse when Pete's guardian aunt vanishes while trying to restore order using outdated witchcraft. Now Pete must find his aunt and stop the war. He might stand a chance if his one friend, Weasel, sticks with him, but even then, they may not have what it takes.

Sam's sure something's lurking in the shadows. A skeleton's map may lead to treasure or death. Evil-hearted thieves are out to trap him. Will he get out this alive? After six months in a new school, Sam’s finally fitting in. He’s the one kid with enough talent to hit the winning home run and bring the baseball trophy back to Haggarty Elementary. But Sam’s guardian is shipping him off to boarding school before that can happen. When teammates, Joey and Roger, hear his bad news, they plot to hide him until the big game. Their secret cave is a perfect place until an earthquake shatters a wall and reveals a wooden chest with a red-eyed dragon carved into its top.Inside, a bony hand clutches a map with a note, promising treasure. With Joey and Roger, Sam sets off to track down the clues and hopefully discover that treasure. When some puzzle pieces start to make sense, the boys become lost in a labyrinth of underground tunnels, trapped by dangerous thieves and sealed inside an airless tomb. Sign of the Green Dragon gets a high five from the San Francisco Review of Books for fantasy, fun and some fearsome adventure. If you like intrepid would-be knights on impossible and dangerous quests, you’ll love this story. As one reader says, this book, “has more twists than a dragon’s tail.” Buy now to jump into the adventure.

"My life was going, going, gone, and I hadn't been laid yet. I couldn't go into the slammer before that happened." Hutch McQueen. Sixteen-year-old Hutchinson McQueen is a big time loser. Trapped in a dysfunctional family, his one thought is escape, but everything he does to get away lands him in trouble. Shackled by poor reading skills, he squeaks through classes with his talent for eavesdropping and memorizing what he hears. When he shoplifts and lands in juvenile detention, the court sentences him to a county youth program. There he meets the priest and Maggie, a retired teacher. They’re determined to set Hutch on a path leading away from trouble. Hutch is determined not to cooperate. It isn’t until he’s facing serious charges that he confronts the truth—his own bad choices are trapping him. When he's offered the freedom he craves, all he has to do is take it.

"NOT GUILTY is a compelling, engrossing, and ultimately uplifting and rewarding read. I couldn't tear myself away!"—Cheryl Rainfield, author of Scars, Stained, Hunted and Parallel Visions.A blood-smeared knife. One young man’s word against another. A lifetime dream crushed.The evidence points to Devon Carlyle. He was there when it happened. Everyone knows he had it in for Renzo Costa. And Costa says Devon was the one. In the judge’s rap of a gavel Devon’s found guilty of assault. The star of the Oceanside High’s basketball team loses his shot at the one thing he’s worked so hard for—the championship game where college scouts could see how good he is.Now he makes his great shots in Juvenile Hall with kids far different from those that have always been in his life.Angry? Hell, yes.He’s bent on finding who did the crime. He’s bent on making them pay because he’s Not Guilty.But can he prove it?

Pete’s stuck in medieval England!Pete and his friend Weasel thought they’d closed the Time Lock. But a young page from medieval times, Peter of Bramwell, goes missing. His absence during a critical moment will forever alter history unless he’s found.There’s only one solution - fledgling wizard Pete must take the page’s place. Accompanied by Weasel and Fanon, Pete’s alligator familiar, they travel to 1173 England.But what if the page remains lost - will Pete know what to do when the critical moment arrives? Toss in a grumpy Fanon, the duke’s curious niece, a talking horse, and the Circle of Stones and Pete realizes he’s in over his young wizard head yet again...

No YouTube. No smoothies. No Manga. Not ever again. Unless Pete figures out how to reverse his bad spell and free Weasel and him from the past. A young wizard accidentally opens a time lock and he and his bookish friend are swept into Victorian England, where they will be trapped forever if that wizard-in-training can’t find a way to reverse his bad spell by the next full moon--just three days away!

"My life was going, going, gone, and I hadn't been laid yet. I couldn't go into the slammer before that happened." —Hutch McQueen. Sixteen-year-old Hutchinson McQueen is a big time loser. Trapped in a dysfunctional family, his one thought is escape, but everything he does to get away lands him in trouble. Shackled by poor reading skills, he squeaks through classes with his talent for eavesdropping and memorizing what he hears. When he shoplifts and lands in juvenile detention, the court sentences him to a county youth program. There he meets the priest and Maggie, a retired teacher. They’re determined to set Hutch on a path leading away from trouble. Hutch is determined not to cooperate. It isn’t until he’s facing serious charges that he confronts the truth—his own bad choices are trapping him. When he's offered the freedom he craves, all he has to do is take it.

No YouTube. No smoothies. No Manga. Not ever again. Unless Pete figures out how to reverse his bad spell and free Weasel and him from the past. A young wizard accidentally opens a time lock and he and his bookish friend are swept into Victorian England, where they will be trapped forever if that wizard-in-training can’t find a way to reverse his bad spell by the next full moon--just three days away!

Pete Riley’s just found out he has magical powers, but he’s flanked by angry alligators on one side and a powerful witch out for revenge on the other. Will his twelfth birthday be his last? Alligators, witches and spooky mansions aren't your average neighbors unless you live at the edge of the Ornofree swamp in the backwater town of Hadleyville. Pete’s the town's bad boy, and he may only be a kid, but he's up to his eyeballs in big trouble. Strangely, this time he isn't the cause. This time the trouble arrives when a legendary hundred-year-old mansion materializes next door and the Ornofree alligators declare war to save their swamp from bulldozers. Things only get worse when Pete's guardian aunt vanishes while trying to restore order using outdated witchcraft. Now Pete must find his aunt and stop the war. He might stand a chance if his one friend, Weasel, sticks with him, but even then, they may not have what it takes.

One Secret Cleo has struggled to heal after her baby sister’s death, but the flashbacks to the accident won’t go away. With the move, she vows to keep her tragedy a secret and avoid pitying looks. One Mystery Something’s strange about the abandoned house across the street—flashes of light late at night and small flickers of movement that only someone looking for them would see.Everyone says the house is deserted, but Cleo is sure it isn’t, and she’s sure whoever is inside is watching her. Another Secret In one night, Belleza’s life changes forever. So famous, her only choice is to hide her secret from the world so she can silence small town bigotry.Then Cleo happens.

Scarred. Scared. Alone. Can sixteen-year-old Shawna Stone overcome her inner suffering and transcend the past? Shawna has spent the first sixteen years of her life in Las Vegas and learned to handle anything from a Las Vegas hustle to skipping out on the rent. Damaged inside and out, she's survived with a tough, hardened attitude. When her mother abandons her, with only a bus ticket and the name and number of stranger to call, this troubled , desperate teen finds herself on a California horse ranch with Kay Stone, the steely, youngish grandmother she's never known. Kay overwhelms Shawna with rules and daily barn chores, and Shawna baffles Kay with her foul-mouthed anger and shrugging indifference to everything--except the maltreated horse on the ranch next door. But it's worse than even Kay suspects: Shawna's driven to cut herself by Monster, that strange voice inside her head. Kay struggles to keep the ranch going and fears that unless she helps this girl, she could lose her last living family member.As this unlikely pair struggles to co-exist, will they overcome their suffering and transcend the past? Blurbs from authors:“Sliding on the Edge is the compelling, courageous chronicle of one girl—destined to be a no one—who fights back against her secret grief and pain and finds her life.” Judy Gregerson, author of Bad Girls Club“C. Lee McKenzie’s extraordinarily moving novel accomplishes a rare feat: It manages to be a coming -of-age story for both its troubled teen protagonist and the grandmother who takes her in. But Sliding on the Edge’s beating heart is Shawna Stone: a girl you can’t help rooting for, even when she doesn’t see much point in rooting for herself. Readers won’t likely forget her.”Dan Ehrenhaft, author of The Afterlife and Tell It to Naomi