Thompson, Lisa

Nate and his mother are escaping from his emotionally abusive step-father, Gary, but the run-down and abandoned cottage in the woods that his mother takes them to does not seem like much of a refuge; but when his mother goes off to buy provisions and does not come back Nate is left alone (except for his imaginary friend Sam) and afraid--until a mysterious girl trying to solve the clues of a long-ago treasure hunt turns up.

Emotionally crippled by his obsessive-compulsive disorder, teenager Matthew Corbin rarely leaves his room on a cul-de-sac in London, and he passes the day observing and writing down his neighbors doings from his window--but when a toddler staying next door disappears Matt is the key to solving a mystery and possibly saving a child's life . . . if he can manage to expose himself, and his secret guilt to the outside world.

Melody Bird is fascinated by the walled off "plague" house she discovered near the the graveyard, but she is even more fascinated by the mysterious boy, Hal, she finds living there in secret; he tells her he is a spy-in-training, a story that Melody's friends Matthew and Jake do not believe, and they set out to find out more--and uncover a riddle even more confusing than Hal's spy story.

"Twelve-year-old Maxwell, convinced his whole town hates him, wishes he had never been born then, realizing he actually is important, tries to get his life back with the help of an elderly neighbor, Reg"--Publisher.

Emotionally crippled by his obsessive-compulsive disorder, teenager Matthew Corbin rarely leaves his room on a cul-de-sac in London, and he passes the day observing and writing down his neighbors doings from his window--but when a toddler staying next door disappears Matt is the key to solving a mystery and possibly saving a child's life . . . if he can manage to expose himself, and his secret guilt to the outside world.

Nate and his mother are escaping from his emotionally abusive step-father, Gary, but the run-down and abandoned cottage in the woods that his mother takes them to does not seem like much of a refuge; but when his mother goes off to buy provisions and does not come back Nate is left alone (except for his imaginary friend Sam) and afraid--until a mysterious girl trying to solve the clues of a long-ago treasure hunt turns up.

Emotionally crippled by his obsessive-compulsive disorder, teenager Matthew Corbin rarely leaves his room on a cul-de-sac in London, and he passes the day observing and writing down his neighbors doings from his window--but when a toddler staying next door disappears Matt is the key to solving a mystery and possibly saving a child's life...if he can manage to expose himself, and his secret guilt to the outside world.