DC Public Library System

The valley of secrets, Charmian Hussey ; illustrated by Christopher Crump

eng

Includes bibliographical references (p. 379-380)

illustrations

no index present

fiction

The valley of secrets

bibliography

56058144

Charmian Hussey ; illustrated by Christopher Crump

When strange events occur in his newly inherited manor house in Cornwall, England, Stephen, a teenager who was abandoned at birth, investigates the mystery and his family history using clues found in a travel journal kept by his great uncle Theo during his trip to the Amazon River region. Stephen Lansbury is an orphan. He thinks he has no relatives at all -- until the day a letter arrives telling him that a distant uncle is dead. Suddenly Stephen finds himself the only heir to a great estate in the countryside. So Stephen sets off to claim his inheritance...but when he arrives, there is nothing to greet him at Lansbury Hall but a mystery. The puzzle is as tangled as the vines on the hall's front gate, but two things are clear: Stephen's uncle kept to himself, and none of the townspeople know he's dead. But why then does Stephen feel that something or someone is in the house? Curious tracks glisten through the kitchen table dust, food in the pantry keeps switching places, and Stephen swears he saw a dark figure lurking outside in the dense woods. To escape the slightly creepy feeling that someone is around, Stephen starts to read his great-uncle's diary. And as he learns about his great-uncle's journey through the Amazon jungle nearly seventy-five years before, a fantastic truth unfolds. Soon Stephen is sure: While the mystery of Lansbury Hall is stranger than he could have imagined, it's not nearly as incredible as the reality.... Handsomely designed and beautifully illustrated, this intriguing yarn is a book to curl up with. Written in the style of a timeless classic, The Valley of Secrets is a book that returns readers to the art of true storytelling

Acknowledgments -- Old Fernley's round -- Copper-brown face -- Mysterious letter -- Old-fashioned kind of boy -- Through the archway -- One and only Mr. Postlethwaite -- Will -- Moonflower -- Fish and chips -- Cornwall, here we come -- Toward the unknown -- Warning -- Enchanted cornwall -- Gateway to mystery -- Face in the mirror -- Throne room -- Weird new species? -- That funny feeling -- Dancing snake -- Graveyard -- Mystery deepens -- Strange call -- Sleeping bat -- Ancestors -- Family likeness -- Swinging eyes -- Creatures of the lake -- Phantom gardener

adolescent