A SNEAK THIEF IN THE SHADOWS

Upon her return to school after an adventurous trip to Sarasota, Florida, and Walt Disney World, 13-year-old BEANS FAGIOLI discovers a disturbing fact - around the school's hallways, lockers are being ransacked and violated. Prized possessions and unusual objects are being stolen, but no one has a clue who is involved or the reason behind it. That's when BEANS decides to go undercover and make an attempt at solving the mystery.

Thirteen-year-old BEANS FAGIOLI and her mother Paulie move into Mill Creek, New Jersey, after a bumpy past and series of location changes over the last six years. BEANS lived in Seattle, Washington, until she was almost seven, that was the year her father was killed in a car crash at the hands of a drunk driver. Devastated, single mom Paulie uprooted the two of them and moved in with BEANS' grandparents in Galveston, Texas. Unhappy with the lack of privacy, Paulie once again moved BEANS to the quiet town of Steubenville, Ohio - home of dear supportive friends. BEANS no sooner gets settled when her mother decides to head east to the sleepy country town of Mill Creek, New Jersey. Both of these ladies find solace there along with endearing, new trustworthy friends. BEANS, who developed a nose for mystery solving early on, immediately gets involved in a dog napping caper and gains new found respect among her community. In A SNEAK THIEF IN THE SHADOWS (volume eleven in the mystery series), BEANS returns from a winter break vacation in Florida only to discover a rash of stolen goods from her middle school friends' lockers. In some cases, the items aren't of great monetary value; however, they have distinctive meaning or sentimental value with their owners. BEANS recruits her neighbor and best friend BOOGER BUGEROWSKI and star football quarterback VITO RUSAMANO (part time forensic scientist) to help her solve the mystery.

Ali LaVecchia is the author of the MG (Middle Grade) Booger and Beans Mystery Series. Her first book The Case of the White Knight received "5 Stars out of 5 Stars" on Good Reads followed by Mystery at Mill Creek Bridge and A Zombie on Peacock Hill, respectively. Ali continues the series with A Treasure in Satan's Knoll, The Case of the Mascot's Missing Fire, Voices Beyond the Hidden Staircase, The Ghost on the Front Porch, The Secret in the Old Scrapbook, The Case of the Vanishing Mail and Bare Bones Beneath the Floorboards. For thirty-two years, Ali worked as a high school and middle school English, Acting, Public Speaking, Creative Writing and Film teacher. She also served as a department facilitator and Director of Curriculum and Instruction in NJ public school districts. During those years, Ali directed over sixty-one plays and musicals and served as advisor and coach of Drama Club, Peer Leadership and World AIDS Alliance. Since 1991, Ali presented several writing projects at the National Council Teachers of English (NCTE) conventions and appeared in the organization's publications. Her poetry has been showcased at the annual Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, too. She is a New Jersey native who lives in a suburb of Philadelphia with her husband John. She recently retired from a professorship, instructing in the Master of Arts in Teaching program for Fairleigh Dickinson University (mentoring, training and field supervising new as well as veteran teachers, K-12). Ali now busies herself acting as a SAG-AFTRA member in regional films and television, and, of course, writing more mysteries, starring Booger and Beans. Currently, Ali is also seeking publishers for children's picture books, women's fiction novels and a nonfiction MG book on Dr. James Still, historic herbologist and black doctor of the Pines in Burlington County, New Jersey. With any extra time, Ali enjoys worldwide travels, beach combing and shelling, swimming, bike rides and time with her adult children and granddaughters Evelina and Fiona plus grandson Cameron. She is looking forward to relocating to her new home on the Gulf Coast of Florida with her husband John. She says, "I want to feel like I'm on vacation forever."