Kludstrup, Kristin.
THE BOOK OF STORY BEGINNINGS
 New York : Candlewick Press, 2006
IL 5-8, RL 4.9
ISBN 0763626090

Beware you writers who write within;
Be mindful of the stories that you begin.
For every story that has a beginning;
May have a middle and an end.
Know this, too before you write:
Though day must always lead to night
Not all beginnings make good tales;
Some succeed, while others fail
Let this book your judgment lend.
On whether and how your beginning ends.

So reads the front cover of the journal that 14 year old Oscar Martin finds in the attic in his farmhouse in the middle of Missouri.  After he writes the beginning of a story in his book,

Oscar walks downstairs, gets into the rowboat and rows off into the ocean never to be seen again by his family.

100    years later, Lucy Martin and her family move from their city apartment to that very same farmhouse.  Lucy is determined to solve the mystery behind Oscar’s disappearance.  Her Aunt Lavonne had been convinced that only Lucy could solve the mysterious, and some thought, magical disappearance of Oscar.

But, what does a cat, an old overcoat, and this mysterious journal all have to do with the mysterious disappearance of Oscar Martin?

Find out in The Book of Story Beginnings by Kristin Kludstrup  (Bettina Wesloh, Children's Library Associate, Eldersburg Branch, Carroll County Public Library, bwesloh@carr.org)