Books with author Ellen Martin Marti

Talia Nicoletti’s life has been turned upside down–and that’s probably an understate-ment. Her mother goes off on a business trip… and comes back married. Her es-tranged father wants to be less estranged. And her best friend Jake DeSantos suddenly has a new confidante who Talia doesn’t want to like but kind of does anyway. Talia has to unravel her tangled up emotions to figure out what she really wants. Does she want to accept her father back in her life? Can she trust her new-stepfather? There’s too much hitting Talia at once, and she’s not ready to deal with any of it. The one person she can always turn to is Jake, and he’s being secretive and isn’t exactly available. And that hurts her more than she thought possible. Talia hates that she’s jealous of the new girl in Jake’s life, especially since she can’t decide if she loves him … or if she loves him not.

When Tanner Dog meets the cat next door, they decide to go to explore the park. Mr. Vlad the cat knows that not all dogs and cats get along, and at first he’s careful with his new friend. When Tanner Dog asks Mr. Vlad if he wants to go back to the park, Mr. Vlad says he needs to check his work schedule. That’s when Tanner Dog learns that Mr. Vlad is a professor of knowledge who spends most of his time reading books from the library. Tanner Dog tells Mr. Vlad that he’s a private investigator, and that the two of them should team up to investigate mysteries. “You can do the research from your library books. Then together we can understand things we are curious about!” he says. Mr. Vlad agrees, and the first mystery they investigate is, “What is a best friend? “ The question leads to a series of adventures that ends with a startling answer that will change their lives forever.