As a child, Charles Dickens worked in a shoe polish factory where his gritty surroundings inspired some of the most memorable characters and settings in literary history. Known for his masterful storytelling in books like "Oliver Twist," "Great Expectations," and "A Christmas Carol," Dickens toured the globe as one of the most famous people of his era. Widely considered the greatest writer of the Victorian age, Dickens's literary masterpieces continue to amuse and inspire writers and readers alike.

Twelve-year-old Colophon Letterford has a serious mystery on her hands. Will she discover the link between her family's literary legacy and Shakespeare's tomb before it's too late? Antique paintings, secret passages, locked mausoleums, a four-hundred-year-old treasure, and a cast of quirky (and some ignoble) characters all add up to a fun original adventure. Readers will revel in a whirlwind journey through literary time and space in real-world locales from Mont St. Michel to Stratford-Upon-Avon to Central Park

Ulysses S. Grant certainly does not have the typical war hero "back story." Although a graduate of West Point, he never wanted to be a soldier and was terrified when he first saw battle. However, during the Civil War, after many Northern generals failed to deliver decisive victories, U.S. Grant rose to what the times required. He took command of Union forces, helped bring the war to an end in 1865, and went on to serve two terms as president.

At the turn of the twentieth century, New York's Bowery District becomes the scene of a terrible murder when the Klezmer King gets fried to a crisp by his Electric Tuxedo--on stage The Inquisitor's apprentice, thirteen-year-old Sacha Kessler, tries to help find the killer, but the closer he gets to solving the crime, the more it sounds as if the creature that haunted him in his first adventure is back. Worse still, his own family is in danger. Sacha has avoided learning magic until now, but as his world falls apart around him, he changes his mind.