45th Anniversary Edition.

When it came to imagination, Benjamin Dilley was right up there with Einstein, Steve Jobs, and whoever came up with the idea for Disneyland. There wasn't anything Benjamin couldn't imagine, except maybe an honest politician or the idea of kissing a (ugh ) girl. Well, he could have if he'd wanted to I suppose but, gee, a guy has to draw the line somewhere

Just about anything else was subject to his delightfully developed imagination, either in full color, black and white, 3D, with sound or without. As you will learn upon reading the story, this included a hippo dressed as an army general, a goat driving a sports car and a genie in (and out of) a bottle just to name a few.

Remember the days when you could do that? I still do it all the time, but folks seem to look at me a little strangely. They tend to say things like, "A little old for that kinda stuff, aren't you, pops?"

"Wait a minute " Mr. Shaw said. "You want to take me back to the nineteenth century, to marry somebody there?"

His daughter Susan must be mad Only a girl suffering from hallucinations would make a request like that, on top of a wild story about a good witch, an elevator that travels to 1881, a vanquished scoundrel, a dug-up treasure, and a distressed nineteenth-century family named Walker. Better humor her, Mr. Shaw thinks, until I can get her to a doctor.

Susan is not mad. Her story is true. She and her new best friend Victoria Walker just know that when their parents meet it will be love at first sight, and the two families will become one.

But nothing happens the way it should. Their parents meet and don't fall in love. Domineering cousin Jane forbids more meetings. The treasure disappears overnight. The vanquished scoundrel returns, with sinister plans. Everything is spinning out of control

So why does an old photo show that Susan's and Victoria's dream comes true?

Alvin Fernald is back! Not only back, but he finds himself in the middle of a mystery as exciting and hilarious as The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald, Alvin's Secret Code and the seven other chaotic adventures of this famous series.

Alvin reaches back to the Civil War, at least figuratively, to bond with a boy who buried a national treasure in order to save it. With the aid of the Pest (Alvin's sister Daphne), and his best friend Shoie, Alvin solves a secret message to reveal the whereabouts of the treasure. Clifford B. Hicks has written another classic which both kids and adults will enjoy!