Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Stayton Public Library | JF WEST | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Mount Angel Public Library | + WEST Scream Shop #2 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Shy, quiet Amy Izzo has spent her entire life blending into the background. She would rather be invisible than be the center of attention! But when her Aunt Irene gives her an enchanting (but unusual) necklace with a mysterious milky-white pendant purchased from Sebastian Cream's Curiosity Shop, Amy finds out just how haunting it can be to really disappear! Stuck between the familiar, corporeal world and an ethereal plane full of ghostly inhabitants, Amy must figure out what to do with this spooky necklace-and decide where she really belongs. It's up to you to help her pick the right path! Illustrated by Brian W. Dow.
Author Notes
Tracey West grew up in a small town in New Jersey. After high school, West attended Rutgers University and studied English and Journalism. She worked on the college newspaper and as a reporter before graduating and getting a job as an editorial assistant at a small publishing company.
From there West moved to a company that packaged children's books and sold them to other publishers. She started submitting ideas for books that other writers would then turn into stories. Finally, she wrote her first book, a Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Supermystery called Spies and Lies.
At the same time, she and two friends came up with an idea for a children's book called Great Uncle Dracula. They wrote the book under the pseudonym Jayne Harvey. West then went to work for Scholastic, and when she left in 1996, she decided to try writing books full time. In 1997 she started Pure West Productions and began writing, editing, and packaging books and magazines. Although writing Pokémon kept her busy, Scholastic picked up her original series, Pixie Tricks. She went on to write eight books in the Pixie Tricks series and continued to write new stories for the popular Pixie Tricks website, www.pixietricks.com. In August 2003, Grosset & Dunlap published West's new series, Scream Shop, a Pick Your Path series that lets readers choose what will happen in the story.
West also writes many books based on cartoon characters such as Samurai Jack, SpongeBob Squarepants, the Looney Tunes, the Powerpuff Girls, Sailor Moon, Cardcaptors, Cubix, and Scooby Doo.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (1)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-These first two titles in a new series resemble the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books (Dell). Readers pick their path when Ben wanders into a curiosity shop with a magic kit for sale and, in the second book, Amy receives a magical necklace for her birthday. Children are given two choices at the end of each short episode and determine what will happen next to the characters. Ben and Amy are believable kids with the common concerns of middle-schoolers-friendship, family, and school. Each of their lives is changed by acquiring a magical item. They are forced to make decisions every four or five pages and readers somewhat control what happens to them. Depending on the path, Amy and Ben face good and evil with sometimes less than positive endings. No matter what the choice, the tension and mood will keep readers holding their breath and then sighing with relief, only to repeat the process again and again. The plot lines vary and can change with each rereading, providing infinite hours of scary reading pleasure. With easy-to-read large font and attractive covers, these titles will draw even reluctant readers who enjoy a scary tale. These books have the potential to rival R. L. Stine's "Goosebumps" series (Scholastic) in terms of popularity.-Molly S. Kinney, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.