The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine

Kids all over the country are acting strangely after reading the latest books in the mega-popular Chillers series. First, it's the seemingly innocent Jelly Worm fad. But it quickly turns sinister, with exploding headaches sweeping the nation, and then a serpent surprise that lands several kids, including Franny's little sister, in the hospital.

Franny is convinced that I. M. Fine, author of the Chillers books, is behind it. With the help of her friend Beamer, she is determined to track down the mysterious author and find out once and for all if the books really are causing all the trouble. After all, a book can't be that dangerous, can it?

Diane Stanley is the author and illustrator of beloved books for young readers, including The Silver Bowl, which received three starred reviews, was named a best book of the year by Kirkus Reviews and Book Links Lasting Connections, and was an ALA Booklist Editors' Choice; The Cup and the Crown; Saving Sky, winner of the Arab American Museum's Arab American Book Award and a Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year; Bella at Midnight, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and an ALA Booklist Editors' Choice; The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy; The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine; and A Time Apart. Well known as the author and illustrator of award-winning picture-book biographies, she is the recipient of the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children and the Washington Post-Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award for her body of work.

Ms. Stanley has also written and illustrated numerous picture books, including three creatively reimagined fairy tales: The Giant and the Beanstalk, Goldie and the Three Bears, and Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. dianestanleybooks.com.