{"product_id":"the-sixtyeight-rooms-isbn-9780375857119","title":"The Sixty-Eight Rooms","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe perfect next step for kids who love the Magic Tree House series\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003etime travel, mystery, and adventure!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlmost everybody who has grown up in Chicago knows about the Thorne Rooms. Housed deep inside the Chicago Art Institute, they are a collection of 68 exquisitely crafted miniature rooms. Each room is set in a different historic period, and every detail is perfect. Some might even say, the rooms are \u003ci\u003emagic.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut what if on a field trip, you discovered a key that allowed you to shrink so that you could sneak inside and explore the rooms' secrets? What if you discovered that others had done so before you? . . . And that someone had left something important behind?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEleven-year-olds Jack and Ruthie are about to find out!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \"Irresistible.\"—The \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Marianne Malone has tapped into a fantasy that is . . . completely universal.\"—\u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"A solid story. Recommend this book to fans of Blue Balliett’s \u003ci\u003eChasing Vermeer\u003c\/i\u003e.\"—School Library Journal\u003c\/b\u003eMARIANNE MALONE is the mother of three grown children, a former art teacher, and the cofounder of the Campus School Middle School for Girls in Urbana, Illinois. She and her husband divide their time between Urbana and Washington, DC. This is her first novel. You can visit her Web site at MarianneMalone.com.Getting up in the morning\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003ewas always a challenge for Ruthie. It wasn’t waking up that was difficult—it was getting out of bed. She had to scrunch down to the end of her bed and climb out through the narrow opening between her desk and her sister’s dresser. Then she had to be careful where she placed her feet on the floor because the under-the-bed storage bin for her summer clothes didn’t quite fit under her twin bed. It stuck out just enough to trip her or stub a toe. The other difficult part was to avoid waking up her sister so Ruthie could claim the bathroom first. Claire was older and seemed to need much more time in the bathroom before school—or before going anywhere—than Ruthie did. Ruthie didn’t understand why that was but it was an observation she had made many, many times.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eClaire was nice enough—not horrible like some siblings Ruthie had heard of. But she took up so much time and space. Mostly space. In their little room, Claire’s stuff dominated by far. She had a computer and a big printer on her already larger desk, all her sports equipment, lots of clothes piled everywhere and a growing mountain of college brochures, SAT study guides and application information. Claire was a junior in high school and starting the process of applying to college. Ruthie counted the days till her sister went away to school. Then she would have her own room.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThis morning Ruthie woke up first and made her way through the small path in their bedroom to the doorway without waking Claire. She looked down the hall—great luck! The bathroom was empty and all hers. Among the kids at her school she was the only one whose family shared one bathroom.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eRuthie turned on the shower first to let the water warm up, took her one bottle of shampoo off the wire rack and tried to find a space for it on the shower ledge next to Claire’s and their mom’s gazillion hair care products. It wasn’t easy.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAs the warm water ran over her back she stood there for a moment, mulling the fact that the shower was just about the only place in her apartment where she could be alone and think privately. She envisioned the day ahead of her, the field trip and what the chances were of something cool happening today. \u003ci\u003eWhy not today? \u003c\/i\u003eAfter a really exciting or unusual thing happens, do people look back and say, “I thought something would happen today”? Probably not. \u003ci\u003eBut why not? \u003c\/i\u003eRuthie wondered. \u003ci\u003eDon’t people ever have a feeling,a sign that something great will happen? \u003c\/i\u003eHer time alone\u003cbr\u003ewas interrupted when the door to the bathroom opened, not once but three times.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eFrom behind the map-of-the-world shower curtain she heard her dad say, “Sorry, Ruthie, I’m just looking for a book I thought I left in here last night.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Dad, please!” Ruthie said.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Don’t worry, I can’t see anything! Now, where did I put it?” He closed the door. \u003ci\u003eSheesh!\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA minute later it was her mom. “Ruthie, have you seen your father’s book on American history?”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Mom, do you mind? No, I haven’t. He already asked me.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Well, don’t take too long in the shower. Your sister needs to get going.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eRight on cue, Claire came in and started brushing her teeth.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Claire, can’t I have any privacy?”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Oh, Ruthie. Don’t be a prude. Hurry up, okay?”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSix hundred and thirty-five days till she goes to college, \u003c\/i\u003eRuthie groaned to herself. \u003ci\u003eAn eternity!\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Yearling","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301343187173,"sku":"NP9780375857119","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780375857119.jpg?v=1767741537","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-sixtyeight-rooms-isbn-9780375857119","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}