Bryan Kennedy

"Life in middle school is finally starting to seem bearable-until Rafe spots his grandmother standing on the free-meal line at the local soup kitchen. In order to help bring in more money, Rafe concocts a brilliant plan-a dog-walking business that soon turns into a huge money-making neighborhood empire"--

Rafe Khatchadorian's new year at middle school is starting to look depressingly like the old one, except that art class is going well--and when he joins the flag-football team and demonstrates some talent as a running-back, he discovers a way of dealing with his bullying nemesis and teammate, Miller the Killer.

Twins Bick and Beck Kidd and their family of professional treasure hunters race against mercenaries, rival treasure hunters, and a lumber baron through the jungles and mountains of Peru in search of Paititi, the legendary lost Inca city of gold, in hope of conserving the archaeological treasure and preventing deforestation of the rain forest.

Rafe thinks he has it made in seventh grade. He's been accepted to art school in the big city, but it's more competitive than he ever expected. To score big in class, he needs to turn his boring life into the inspiration for a work of art. Anything he's never done before, he's going to do it, from learning to play poker to going to a modern art museum. But when Rafe uncovers secrets about the family he's never known, he has to decide if he's ready...

Cass's mom is kidnapped by sinister, blind chocolatier Señor Hugo. The ransom? the legendary Tuning Fork.