The story takes place on peaceful, rural Mayne Island, home to little more than a thousand residents. Magda, a plucky, adventurous preteen, has a summer job on a local farm, but in her spare time she is an eager sleuth. One of her closest friends is a boy named Brent, whose troubled mother is increasingly unable to care for him. Together the two children have discovered an abandoned old house with a mysterious past. Is the house haunted by the ghosts of a family murdered long ago?

Magda, Brent and their friends have fun teasing some of their younger neighbours with tales of ghost sightings at the haunted house. But their fun and games come to a sudden stop when Brent is accused of stealing art treasures from an elderly island resident. Afraid of being arrested and sent to foster care, Brent goes into hiding. Magda then has two mysteries to solve: the ancient mystery of the haunted house and the very present problem of how to prove her friend innocent and keep him from being sent away from the island.

Without giving away the plot, let me just say that, with help from Sport, her neighbour’s, friendly black dog, Magda eventually solves the mystery of the haunted house. She also discovers the true criminals responsible for the theft of the art treasures and brings them to justice. Brent’s suffering comes to an end. He finds a permanent, safe and happy home on the island.

Mayne Island Skeletons is a highly readable story that will appeal to preteens and that families will enjoy reading aloud. Harvey’s writing is clear and engaging, her characters sympathetic and real and her setting evocative. Magda is a very likable and memorable heroine, one that today’s children will relate to. Magda  struggles, as we all do at times, between obeying the rules and following her curiosity. In the end, her instincts guide her true. I look forward to hearing about her further adventures!

One day on Mayne Island I saw some neighbour kids riding their bikes around and I had a fantasy of being a girl here, free to ride my bike anywhere and have adventures.  Soon after, I woke from sleep with a book title in mind.  It was called The Dream Book of Mary Magdalene Sommers.  I’ve always written, so I sat down and started the first book.

I want to leave a legacy for my grandchildren.

My young grandchildren know me only as “Grandma,” a white-haired woman who loves them and dotes on them.  There’s more to me than what they can know and understand at their young ages (1 – 6).  If I’m no longer alive when they are 9 – 14, I hope they’ll read my books and find in them someone who can relate to them at that age, too.

Children can explore big questions while enjoying a novel.

Magda’s Mayne Island Mystery takes a look at the many ways Magda and her mother deal with grief and loss.  Mayne Island Aliens examines the effects of exclusion and hostility among children as well as on the world stage.  Mayne Island Skeletons looks at secrets and how dangerous and destructive they can be, from kids among their peer group to the horrors of domestic violence and murder.

My next book, Mayne Island Maniacs, will look at lies and innuendo, both among the kids and among adults, and the devastation it can bring to people and relationships.

The novels have enough humour and plot that the messages aren’t too obvious.

This book has some very spooky things in it, like a haunted house, a haunted forest, murder, skeletons,  as well as some funny people, like Hortense Warwick and Polly Prudholme.   It has a lot about friendship, too, and about doing what you think is right even if people don’t agree with you.

I hope you like it.  Amber does, too.

I bought the pattern and material last year and put them away for a while and then I actually forgot about them.  I’m making a shirt.  But I had to take a break.  It is way harder than I thought it would be.  I love the material.  It’s sort of rainbow-y.  The shirt will have longish sleeves and a loose fit.  I know I’ll love it when it’s done.

Amber told me that a man came up to her in the grocery store today and asked if she was still writing books for kids.  “Yes,” she told him.  “In fact, another one should be out this summer.”  She’s pretty excited about it.

Back to work.  Maybe it will be finished by the time the sun’s out.  Wish me luck!!!

I hope you’ll all like it.

This week we’re going to Victoria for a while and when  I get back I’ll hang out with some of my friends.  Jo, Shauna and I are planning a sleep-over, movies and popcorn.

Have a great Spring Break, everyone.

Do you have a best friend who has done something very important or interesting? What are you doing to help the earth?  Tell me about it.

You all know Sport from Magda’s Mayne Island Mystery and Mayne Island Aliens.  Well, when he lives with my mom and me he’s part of our family.  We always know where he is and he knows where we are.  When we leave we say good-bye and tell him we’ll be back soon.  We never hear him barking when we return.  Usually he sleeps till we get back.

Maybe this dog hates being left outside and wants to go inside.  I want to go and get this barking dog and bring him or her home with me.  I’d leave a note for the people.  But I know I shouldn’t do that.   It would just get people mad at me and maybe the dog is sick and it would bite me because it’s in pain!!

Oh, I wish they would hurry back.

What do YOU do when something like this happens?  If you ever had this experience, please tell me.  ASAP.  Please!!!

Magda

Lots of people tell Amber they can’t wait for the third book, that they love the stories, and that’s great.  I want to read it, too.

But I don’t know what people actually liked about the first two.  Was it me?  Brent?  Mayne Island?  Solving mysteries?  Adventures?  They might have told Amber, but they haven’t told me.  Soooo if you liked them, tell ME, okay?  And tell me WHY.

Thanks.  Magda

Brent’s all excited about his new home.  Oops!  I shouldn’t tell you about that, because it comes up in Mayne Island Ghosts, and I don’t want to spoil your fun.

Amber is writing another story, a rhyming one, that’s for little kids.  I hope she finishes it soon and can get back to writing about ME!!!!!

Talk to you later.

Magda

I often wonder why she writes.  She sits at her computer hour after hour, day after day, for months, and writes about ME.  And she could be doing anything!  She could be walking, or reading, or seeing her friends, or riding a bike, or… anything!  But instead, she sits and writes.

Now she plans to work on a story poem she wrote a couple of years ago.  More writing.  Ugh!

Do you write?  If you do, maybe you can explain to me why anyone would spend their days writing.  Please!