Ten-year-old Kat has a terrible fear of swimming. She's tried everything, but to no avail: the feeling of water closing over her head sends her into a panic every time. So when her parents plan a summer vacation to an island, Kat is understandably less than thrilled. Yet the moment she arrives on the beach, she senses there is something very unusual about this place. When she finds a strange whistle floating in the surf, she knows her instinct is right: from that moment on, she can understand the island's animals when they speak. And what they have to say is extraordinary... A dolphin known as the Water Knight tells Kat that, long ago, a horrible curse was cast upon the island by a villainous toad. Only a child can break the spell and only during a special full moon that shines once every forty years. Just such a night is rapidly approaching, and it's up to Kat to free the island from the curse. But doing so means confronting her phobia of water. Can she face down the evil toad in her deep ocean lair to save her new friends? Or will her fear of swimming overwhelm her once again? Packed with adventure and suspense, this story about a plucky girl conquering her greatest fear makes for a rousing - and heartwarming - listen.
Nonstop fun with a dizzying amount of mystery, Pizzicato: The Abduction of the Magic Violin is a lighthearted whodunit featuring a fair-haired orphan named Darius Dorian, who has a sly wit and a curious way of approaching most any predicament. Darius is none too pleased to be paired with Archibald Archinola, a master violinmaker, for a school project, especially when he thinks about his rival - fellow orphan and constant nemesis Max - being surrounded by Porsches at Auto Frederick for the same assignment. But when Darius discovers an old violin in a glass case and strikes the chords, a cut on his hand magically disappears, and suddenly studying with the violinmaker proves to be anything but dull. As a greedy doctor works to get her hands on the magic fiddle, Darius is forced to pull a few strings to save the magic violin's power.
