About this item
Twelve-year-old Henry Hewitt has been living by his wits on the streets of London, dodging his parents, who are determined to sell him as an apprentice. Searching for a way out of the city, Henry lands a position in Hampshire as an assistant to Sir Richard Blackstone, an aristocratic scientist who performs unorthodox experiments in his country manor. The manor house is comfortable, and the cook is delighted to feed Henry as much as he can eat. Sir Richard is also kind, and Henry knows he has finally found a place where he belongs.But everything changes when one of Sir Richard's experiments accidentally transforms a normal-sized tarantula into a colossal beast that escapes and roams the neighborhood. After a man goes missing and Sir Richard is accused of witchcraft, it is left to young Henry to find an antidote for the oversized arachnid. Things are not as they seem, and in saving Sir Richard from the gallows, Henry also unravels a mystery about his own identity.
About the Author
I received a master's degree in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier, VT. (Though to this day I still wish it was the Vermont College of Fine Arts of the Florida Keys.) I won't go on about how terrifying the winter weather in Vermont can be, other than to say that on icy days, the slide from the campus to downtown is similar to a race down the slopes to Whoville.
Before my journey to Vermont, I was a professional vagabond and Jack of all trades. I'm a dual citizen of the United States and ?Ireland, (Sorry Ireland - blame my Nana!) have traveled throughout Africa, Asia and Central America, and lived on a Caribbean island for eight years. I once backpacked alone from Morocco to Kenya. (Insider tip on crossing the Sahara Desert - TURN BACK.)
My jobs have included Master Scuba Diving Instructor (nobody drowned) , Wall Street headhunter (it did not involve shrunken heads, except figuratively) , Owner/?Chef of a Chinese restaurant (having to download recipes from the internet should have been a red flag) , Set Medic for a reality T.V. show (The drama! The pathos! The contestants who didn't know who the President was!) and Deputy Prothonotary of a county court (Sadly, lawsuits remain a popular American sport) .
All of those jobs had their pluses and minuses, some more minuses than others, but no job is as fun as writing middle grade stories. I seriously don't know why everybody isn't doing it.
