My debut novel, forthcoming from Scholastic Press on October 1, 2010.
Pre-order here.
Synopsis:
Giuseppe is a busker, wrenched from his brother and sister in Italy and brought to America to play his fiddle on the streets for the ruthless Stephano. He sees no way to escape, until the day he finds a green violin that plays magical music. Frederick is an apprentice clockmaker, with a past he chooses not to remember, but which has left him unable to trust anyone. His need for independence fuels a secret ambition, the drive to create a clockwork like none ever seen. Hannah is a maid in a grand hotel, working to pay the rent for her family’s shabby tenement and keep them off the street. Her life is one of sacrifice and endless drudgery, until a mysterious guest moves into the topmost suite of the hotel, and Hannah overhears a rumor of hidden treasure.
The lives of the three children soon interlock, like the turning gears in a clock, and they all come to realize that each one holds a key to the mysteries and dangers faced by the others. Their adventures sweep them across their city, from the shipyards to the opera house, from the depths of the Archer Museum to the opulence of the Gilbert Hotel, from the city’s old cemeteries to the darkness of McCauley Park. Along the way they must learn to trust each other, and in themselves. For they risk losing those things they hold most dear, and the dangers they face soon become all too real.