The Slingshot's Secret

By Benjamin Conlon

Book Overview

Kids shouldn't build zip-lines. Everyone knows that. Zip-lines are dangerous.

Caves are worse-dark, damp, and full of things they aren't meant to find.

Secret passages? Absolutely not. Nothing good has ever come from a secret passage.

Above all, kids should never pick up strange slingshots that tumble off garbage trucks. That's how it starts. One small choice, and suddenly you're tangled in a mystery that doesn't want to let go.

Honestly, kids probably shouldn't even read this book. It'll just give them ideas.

Best to stay on phones-bright little screens that keep them busy and quiet while the world slips past unnoticed...

Sam Torwey wants what every kid used to want: to build a treehouse, camp under the stars, and maybe-just maybe-find hidden treasure. He dreams of the kind of old-fashioned adventure he reads about in his favorite books, where the action never stops and every day feels like a mystery waiting to happen.

But this is the digital age, and Sam doesn't quite fit in. His classmates are glued to cell phones, his parents to their computers, and video games have replaced the kind of fun that requires a little dirt, danger, and imagination.

Then, just as another disappointing summer ends, a mysterious slingshot tumbles into his life. Before he can examine it, sixth grade begins-and everything starts to go wrong. His best friend drifts away, his teacher seems determined to ruin his year, and a humiliating video goes viral.

Things only improve when Sam meets two new friends and the trio begins investigating the strange origins of the slingshot. What they uncover leads them across rivers, through caves, behind locked doors, and down secret passages -where a mystery more than a hundred years old waits to be solved.

But someone else is searching too. Someone desperate... and maybe even dangerous. The school year brings Sam plenty of adventure, maybe more than he can handle.

A great choice for middle school readers, classroom read-alouds, and fans of realistic adventure, The Slingshot's Secret blends humor, mystery, and heart. Perfect for readers who enjoy Gordon Korman, Louis Sachar, Stuart Gibbs, and stories like Holes and Restart.

***Tucked within the pages of The Slingshot's Secret are clues to a real hidden treasure-a puzzle only the most observant readers will notice. Follow the trail, crack the codes, and you might just uncover a secret waiting in the real world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1979466548
• ISBN13: 9781979466547
• Release Date: July 2018
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.0"