This reader consists of diverse writings about Gould Farm, considered the nation’s oldest residential rehabilitation community. The Farm now assists those with persistent mental illness. Informed by a Christianity that was neither sectarian nor doctrinaire, yet steeped in the Sermon on the Mount, Will Gould and his wife, Agnes, founded the Farm in 1913. In addition to serving those who arrive at Gould Farm as “guests,” the Farm has assisted refugees during World War II, hosted civil rights...

What if your favorite video game was much more than a game?Bryce would never have just left. Thirteen-year-old Zach knows that deep in his bones. Something terrible must have happened to his older brother. So when the green-eyed fox leads him to a hidden message from Bryce deep within their favorite game’s virtual universe, Zach knows he must act quickly.Teaming up with his best friend, a skillful classmate, and Bryce’s girlfriend, Zach races into a real-world mission to ...

Do you remember your first real adventure? When summer was filled with magic and anything seemed possible?"Magic Tree House meets The Hardy Boys...A perfect summer reading adventure!"When young brothers Derek and Sam move with their family to Virginia, they have no idea what adventures the summer will bring. As they explore their creaky old house and the deep surrounding woods, they uncover a sixty-year-old mystery of a valuable ...

The offer he couldn’t refuse trapped him in a game he may never win....Bryce never meant to disappear. At the start of his senior year of high school, his focus was on getting into college, running track, and spending as much time as possible with his girlfriend, Maggie. But a cryptic invitation to join an elite computer programming unit at one of the world’s top high-tech gaming companies unlocks a level of intrigue and deception far beyond his imagination.Together with fe...

Ten-year-old Harry has a great life, except for one big problem—his older brother.Randy seems to delight in making Harry’s life difficult. Sometimes it feels like he’s in a war at his own house. When Randy locks him and his art project in the pitch-black dark basement with the fire-breathing furnace, Harry vows to get even. But revenge may not be as sweet as he hoped when Randy blackmails him into a perilous canoe ride down the river. Has Harry followed his brother...

Ten-year-old Harry can't wait for a week of summer camp in the mountains at Camp Awonjahela. Unfortunately, his older brother Randy is coming too. If that weren't bad enough, his Cabin Eleven is cursed. Or at least that's the legend. Even worse, a girl named Poison Ivy won't stop talking to him.No one from Cabin Eleven has ever won the camp-wide competition, but that's exactly what Harry and his friends set out to do. To break the curse, they'll have to survive the overnight hike, ...

The virtual world is calling....Bryce would never have just left.Thirteen-year-old Zach knows that deep in his bones. Something terrible must have happened to his older brother. So when the green-eyed fox leads him to a hidden message from Bryce deep within their favorite game’s virtual universe, Zach knows he must act quickly.Teaming up with his best friend, a skillful classmate, and Bryce’s girlfriend, Zach races into a real-world mission to decod...

The race to return from the virtual world has never been more real.Bryce was so close to getting home. Now he’s back on the run, hiding from Rangers inside Final Kingdom waiting for the bridge to reopen. But time is running out. Mysterious glitches are tearing at the virtual world’s fabric and could leave him permanently stranded.Zach, Andrew, Jess, and Maggie think they’ve located Bryce, but the military has taken over control of the JOSHUA Project and get...

The last place ten-year-old Harry and older brother Randy want to be is stuck in New Jersey with their kooky Grandma DeLuca and her wonder dog, Mr. Muggles. But when she wakes them for a break of dawn train ride into New York City to watch her favorite singer, Neil Floggins, in concert on the Today Show, things go down hill fast.And that's all before they get lost in Queens and run into Joey P and the Red Skulls. When Muggles disappears and Grandma is abducted, the often-b...

Ghosts from the Civil War seemed like just a legend until they saw the lights over the water.Brothers Sam and Derek can’t wait to explore historic Belle Isle during the 150th anniversary of the Fall of Richmond and the end of the Civil War. But that’s before they learn how the wooded park along the James River once held Union soldiers in a terrible prisoner-of-war camp. Legend says that the haunting lights over the rapids at night are the ghosts of long-dead sold...

Liberty or death is just the beginning in this hunt for secrets left by the Founding Fathers.When sleuthing brothers Sam and Derek visit Richmond’s historic St. John’s Church for a reenactment of Patrick Henry’s famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech, something’s hidden in the basement. Something important.As the brothers and their classmates dig deeper, they find clues from Thomas Jefferson, George Wythe, and other Founding Fathers in a quest f...

Dead drops, cyphers, and invisible ink are all part of a mystery that even spymaster George Washington would love.Sam, Derek, and Caitlin love solving mysteries, and when they visit Washington, DC, spies are lurking. What starts out as a fun game of pretend on the National Mall turns all too real when they follow a mysterious man to a meeting deep within the Capitol. To keep government secrets from falling into the wrong hands, the kids must work with federal agents and travel to...