Willo Davis Roberts Books In Order

The View from the Cherry Tree

From his favorite perch in a cherry tree, Rob sees a murder committed, but when he tells his preoccupied family, no one will believe him. ‘Taut with suspense, this spell binding story carries the reader along’. Booklist, starred review.

Don’t Hurt Laurie

Laurie is physically abused by her mother; can she escape, and will anyone believe her story?

The Girl with the Silver Eyes

Katie, who has supernatural powers, attempts to start a new life in another town with hermother. The attempt succeeds until Mr. Cooper asks Katie too many questions.

No Monsters in the Closet

A spooky tale from the author of Megan’s Island and A View from the Cherry Tree. After scaring his little sister with tales of monsters in the closet, Steve gets his just desserts when he finds himself investigating the happenings at the scary, boarded up old Hanson House.

Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Job

I’m Darcy Stevens. A baby sitter for the Foster children. Now, I’ve taken care of bratty kids before, but never three all at once. These kids are really something. I was reading to the two girls and Jeremy snuck into the den to call his Uncle Rick who lives in Hawaii! Later the baby covered herself with her mother’s expensive makeup!But that’s not the half of it. After I interviewed for the job, my brother drove me home and I saw a black car following us. Then on my first day, this stranger came to the door and said he was from the gas company and had to get in for an emergency. I asked to see his ID and instead of showing me, he just left.I could never have predicted what would happen next…
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Megan’s Island

‘Megan Collier is shocked when her mother takes her and her brother, Sandy, to their grandfather’s isolated cottage in the middle of the night…
and is further disturbed by evidence that three strangers are spying on them.’ School Library Journal.

What Could Go Wrong?

‘When cousins Gracie and Eddie are invited to fly to San Francisco to visit their Aunt Molly, Gracie’s mother decides they may go, musing ‘What Could Go Wrong??’ If only she had known about the man in the Hawaiian shirt carrying a newspaper with a mysterious code on it. Or about the bomb threat…
Lively prose and strong characterizations make an ordinary event a first plane ride into an extraordinary backdrop for a mystery.’ Publishers Weekly.

Scared Stiff

Rick and Kenny’s Pa was right troubles really do happen in threes. First Pa’s truck was robbed, then Pa ran off, leaving Rick, Kenny, and Ma to fend for themselves, and now Ma has disappeared, too. Rick just knows Ma would never leave them on purpose but then, where is she? Waiting in Uncle Henry’s trailer park doesn’t seem like the best way to find out. Instead, the brothers, along with their new friends, Connie and Julie, decide to search the abandoned Wonderland Amuseme*nt Park next door for answers. But what they find inside sends them on the most terrifying roller coaster ride of their lives could whoever took Ma be after them, too?

Jo and the Bandit

Jo’s uncle and new guardian puts her to work at the mercantile where she meets a young bandit, whom she tries to help, until her uncle decides to use her as bait to trap the boy and his rough riding friends.

The Absolutely True Story

Lewis and Alison’s vacation should be lots of fun. Driving to Yellowstone in a motor home, seeing all the fantastic sights, getting to know their new neighbors…
the trip should be a blast. It turns out to be anything but. First they discover their hosts, the Rupes, have no interest in nutrition, manners, or their own children. Even worse, two strange men seem to be following them. Could they have something to do with the one hundred dollar bills little Billy Rupe keeps finding in the motor home? Lewis is afraid the answer is yes and he should be.

Twisted Summer

Willo Davis Roberts wrote many books for adults and children during her long and illustrious career. Three of her children’s books won Edgar Awards, while others received great reviews and other accolades. ‘The One Left Behind’ would have been her hundredth book for children.

Secrets at Hidden Valley

With her stuntman father dead and her actress mother going on location to film a B movie, Steffi is sent to Michigan to stay with her grandfather, a bitter man who apparently hated her father and ignores her, until Steffi’s life is threatened by a resident at the remote trailer park.

The Kidnappers

‘I didn’t like Willie Groves, but I didn’t hate him enough to want someone to kidnap him.’

Famous last words. Joey Bishop soon finds himself face to face with The Kidnappers himself as well as his archenemy in this fast paced, urban story that will leave you panting for your next breath.

Hostage

Kaci enjoys reading mysteries and adventure stories as long as there are other family members around and especially when she has a big bowl of popcorn nearby. Sometimes, though, she longs for a little excitement and wonders what it would be like to have a real adventure. Kaci is feeling this way at the time her family moves to a house in a new development that is supposed to be safer than their old neighborhood. She likes everything about the new place except the nosy neighbor next door, Mrs. Banducci. She’s a pain, always asking too many questions. She’s around the morning Kaci comes home from school to get special medicine for her allergy attack, and her questions are about the deliveries made that morning to Kaci’s house. What were they? Kaci doesn’t know. She also doesn’t know, when she gets to her front door, why it is open. No one is supposed to be home. Although she doesn’t realize it right then, this is the start of Kaci’s big adventure. The new development, it turns out, is not so safe after all. A neighborhood where Mrs. Banducci is probably the only person home all day is ideal for thieves who want to break in and steal thieves who don’t care what they do to you when they find you in a house where they don’t expect you to be. Kaci’s adventure is one that can even make her value Mrs. Banducci. Once again Willo Davis Roberts has created an adventure story that leaves you breathless, yet makes you feel it could happen down the street, next door, or even to you.

Buddy Is a Stupid Name for a Girl

Buddy, whose real name is Amy Kate, has never thought much about her nickname it is what her father has called her for years until three things happen: Her father, who has gone off to take a new job, disappears; she and her brother are evicted from the house in which they have been living because they can’t pay the rent; and she has to leave Washington state to go live with relatives in Montana until her brother can find out what has happened to their father. It is in Montana where she encounters people who think her name is strange, who wonder why a girl is called Buddy. But in Montana, living with Aunt Addie; Aunt Cassie and her alcoholic husband, Gus; Gus’s son, Max; and Grandpa, who is really Buddy’s great grandfather, Buddy has more than her name to think about. Why does Aunt Addie seem to hate Buddy’s dead mother, EllaBelle? What happened to the money that Grandpa got from the sale of his store two and a half years ago, and what does that money have to do with Buddy and her mother? And finally, what has happened to Dan, Buddy’s father? As Buddy confronts relatives she has hardly known, and a new school where everything seems strange and different, she must accept some of what she finds and make the best of it. She must, for example, take Grandpa as he is: old, almost blind, and afflicted with dementia. Other things she can hope may change: Her brother may find her father, Aunt Addie may forgive her mother, and maybe she’ll make a new friend. And still others, she realizes, she must investigate on her own: She must solve the mysteries of her mother’s past and the disappearance of Grandpa’s money. Things happen quickly as Buddy explores her new and, she hopes, temporary, life. As she does, the concerns of years past suddenly come into focus, as if they were waiting for Buddy to appear. An engaging novel about a spunky hero*ine and a family with problems that are unique, and yet in some ways all too common.

Undercurrents

Fourteen year old Nikki Simons has lost her mother to cancer. Her older sister, Bonnie, will soon be off on an exciting trip before heading to college, leaving Nikki to cope with things at home, including her little brother, Sam.

Nikki still grieves for her mother, knows she will desperately miss Bonnie, and feels inadequate to fill in for them at home. And then their father makes a shattering announcement: He is going to marry Crystal, a woman he met through work who is only slightly older than his daughters.

Not long after the peculiar wedding none of Crystal’s family or friends attended, Nikki learns that in place of a European trip the family had planned before her mother’s death, they will be spending part of the summer in the village of Trinidad, in northern California, where Crystal has inherited a house on the beach.

Nikki decides that going to the beach is preferable to having no vacation at all. But soon she’s troubled by more than just Dad’s hasty marriage to a woman who doesn’t make much of an attempt to relate to his children. Other things about Nikki’s new stepmother remain unexplained: Why is she reluctant to return to the house where she spent some time as a child? And after Dad is called back to Seattle on an emergency, what awful secret causes Crystal to have nightmares that waken Nikki out of a sound sleep? How is Nikki, by herself, expected to cope with things that baffle and frighten her?

Then Nikki meets Julian Gyasi, an intriguing boy known as Spook who lives in a house on the cliff nearby. Why are there mysterious lights in the tower windows over there, and who is the man who frightens Nikki by watching her from the top of the cliff? As the days pass, Crystal’s behavior becomes even stranger and Dad is still not there to help Nikki deal with either her stepmother or the increasingly mysterious situation at the Gyasi house.

Rebel

Her name was Amanda Jane Keeling, but from the time she was two, everyone called her Rebel. Rebel‘s first word was ‘No!’ And it was downhill from there. As a toddler she resisted strained spinach and potty training. At five, she refused to go to kindergarten. Now at fourteen, she has toned down her Rebellious streak somewhat, but whenever faced with a challenge she still feels the need to confront it head on, despite the opinions or advice of others. When Rebel and her friend Moses the only boy she’s ever met who can match her in both wit and height witness some strange goings on, instead of going straight to the police, they decide to investigate the matters themselves. A bizarre robbery, an open door in the middle of the night, muddy footprints…
all these clues lead Rebel and Moses to more questions than answers. But still they won’t go for help. Little do they know the danger that awaits them…
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Blood on His Hands

Somewhere in the distance, behind him, Marc heard a hound baying. He hesitated, breathing hard, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, straining to hear better. The hound bayed again, a lonely, fearsome sound.

Marc Solie is on the run. He has been for what seems like forever, though it’s been less than two years since his little sister died and his family fell apart, since he started running from his pain and despair and pure, desperate loneliness.

This time it’s different. Marc’s not just running from himself this time; he’s running from the cops. Marc’s done something bad. He’s not sure how bad — maybe as bad as murder.

Marc’s only chance is to get to his father. His father will know what to do, how to get him out of this mess. But Marc hasn’t seen or talked to his father for months, and he’s not really sure where he is. So Marc keeps running — following Interstate 5 north from northern California to Washington, hoping to find him.

With only a runt dog named Rat for companionship, Marc has time to reflect on the last two years and come to grips with how his life has changed. For the first time, Marc begins to see how he’s responsible for his own actions, and despite any wrongdoings to him, ultimately he’s accountable for his life. As Marc sees this truth, he’s finally able to stop running and face up to what he’s done.

Blood on His Hands is a gripping, taut novel about one boy’s journey to manhood.

The One Left Behind

Mandy awoke in darkness. For a moment she didn’t remember that Angel was gone, that she would not be coming back, and then the pain hit her like a physical blow.

For the first time in her eleven years, Mandy is alone. Through a series of miscommunications, her entire family has left her by herself in their big house on Lake Michigan. But it’s the absence of her twin sister, Angel, that she feels the most. One year ago Angel died, and Mandy’s life has been at a standstill ever since. While the rest of her family has moved on, Mandy still clings to the pain of her loss.

At first, Mandy is almost relieved to have the time to herself. But quickly the loneliness consumes her until she stumbles upon two boys, one her age, the other not yet two, who are also on their own. Running away from men who wish to do them harm, the boys turn to Mandy for help. But what can she do for these boys when she can barely take care of herself? If only Angel were here, she would know what to do.

But Angel isn’t here, and Mandy can’t let the men hurt these boys. So she takes them in, and in turn, makes a remarkable discovery about herself, her sister, and the very special bond they shared.

Sugar Isn’t Everything

A unique, much needed resource guide for young diabetics. ‘For young diabetics, it is bibliotherapy. For non diabetics, it is informative about a silent, potentially life threatening illness and its treatment.’ School Library Journal. Full color.