Books with author Michael Davies

Taught only by her grandfather, Charlotte plays the cello beautifully. After her grandfather died a year ago, Charlotte now has his cello, but tragically this is damaged in an accident during a concert. But a mysterious old man who seems to know her gives her a new instrument, a cello of extraordinary beauty and sound. Soon after, she plays the solo part in the Elgar Cello Concerto at a concert and word of her ability reaches the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. She is invited to the Sydney Opera House to play before world-famous Vladimir Ashkenazy, the Concertmaster, Dene Olding and Principal Cello, Catherine Hewgill. Not only are they astonished by her playing, but they identify the cello as the long-lost and legendary cello made by famed luthier, Nicolo Amati. This cello was believed stolen in 1700 and said to contain an amazing secret. But others want the cello and its secret and Charlotte is kidnapped and the ransom demanded is the cello. As part of the search for Charlotte, the detective in charge of the case uses high technology to examine the cello and finds what appears to be the answer. Somehow knowing this, the kidnappers release Charlotte. Charlotte's friends are also helping and in their own research, they discover what the answer to the huge secret is. The hunt for an extraordinary treasure goes to Italy and then back to Australia and Charlotte finally realises her dream when Vladimir Ashkenazy leads her out to the stage of the Sydney Opera House to play the solo part in the Elgar Cello Concerto to a packed house.

Finnegan's uncle receives an invitation to be a finalist in an international mystery writers' award competition. Since the author must be present to accept the prize, that means exotic Saharan travel for Finn and Uncle Stoppard. The competition winner will receive $1,000,000 and The Ruby Raven, a figurine of a dark, carved bird, with real ruby gems as eyes. It's no surprise that all of the writers are eager to win this coveted award, in fact some are dying to possess it.....

I DON'T KNOW WHY I FELT SICK. I MEAN, YES, IT WAS THE FIRST DEAD BODY I EVER SAW. BUT I SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE COMFORTABLE. AFTER ALL, MY WHOLE FAMILY LIKES DEAD THINGS....Thirteen-year-old Finnegan Zwake is staying with his Uncle Stoppard, a bestselling mystery writer, and still hoping his parents will return from an archaeological expedition in Iceland. They disappeared there several years ago.Life with his uncle is fairly normal -- until the day Finn discovers a body in the basement. A dead body. It's in the storage area where Finn's parents left behind gold treasure from their last expedition. And missing from the storage space is a magnificent Mayan gold figure, the Horizontal Man....

Under the last Full Moon of summer, in the Overlap of Worlds, the Red Moon Faire opens its gates.Lupe Garcia has never heard of the Red Moon Faire. All she knows is her dream of being a dog and chasing rabbits around Spring Hollow has turned out to be all too real. She has no idea how to change back into her normal girl shape, and now the ghost of a saber-toothed tiger with only one tusk is chasing her through the sleeping neighborhood, roaring at her to return his missing tooth.Eluding the ghost, Lupe stumbles into the Overlap and the Faire. She's still a dog, but the Faire doesn't care. Everyone--and everything--is welcome at the Red Moon Faire: six-foot-tall intelligent rabbits, tiny Elvs, lizardmen in business suits, and much more.But there are also shadows at the Faire, and snares for the unwary. And a prisoner desperate to escape--even if the attempt puts Lupe in harm's way...

Want to ride a magical creature? Cast a spell on the jerks at school? Fend off monsters before they conquer your treehouse city? Join Ricci’s adventure as he enters his first year of magic school!Ricci’s life changes forever when a talking squirrel rescues him from certain death and whisks him away to a fascinating land filled with elves, dwarves, and faeries. King Florien, elf king of Trinnifain, insists Ricci live in his own personal villa in the treehouse city, and attend magic school with the elf children. Ricci makes fast friends with Loreign, a surly elf, Banlin, a lanky dwarf, and Summer, a cheeky faerie, and together they learn not only magic, but other amazing skills such as how to ride fantasy creatures, how to control the elements, and how to fight with all types of weapons.Disaster strikes when a thief steals one of the city’s Protection Seeds. The Seeds are the only thing which prevents monster attacks, so the enchanted city will fall if the crook steals the remaining three. But who is the thief? And what will it take to stop him? Ricci bands together with his school friends—and enemies—to discover who the burglar is before he destroys those Ricci loves. But time is running short, and Ricci still has so much magic to learn.

Discover the power of FRIENDSHIP in this must-have picture book featuring DC Comics' WONDER WOMAN! As one of the World's Greatest Super Heroes, WONDER WOMAN has many powers and abilities, including lightning-quick speed, super-strength, and a golden lasso. But her most important skill of all? Being a friend! In this addition to the bestselling DC Super Heroes Picture Book series, the Amazon Princess demonstrates the traits and importance of healthy friendships. With bright, bold illustrations and action-packed text, award-winning author Michael Dahl (Bedtime for Batman, Good Morning, Superman, and Be a Star, Wonder Woman) crafts a fresh, exciting way to approach this social and emotional learning (SEL) skill while pleasing super hero fans, young and old.

Late one night, two friends hurry home after a birthday party ends. On the way, they spy a small lending library that hadn t been there before the party. When they open the little door and browse the books, a claw reaches out and pulls the girls inside! They find themselves trapped in a dark world with a shadowy beast that has a taste for voracious readers . . ."