Long ago, a strange hermit built a Secret mansion in the woods.
There are some vocabulary words that are explained in the text to help expand learning..
The language used is appropriate for light reading.
This story uses humor and suspense to keep kids interested in reading.
Elton, Jerry, and Brian are characters with strengths and flaws and their own unique personalities that will appeal to kids.
There\'s no extreme violence or inappropriate language, and the story teaches values such as courage, friendship, trust, respect for nature, and the terrible things that can happen when gossip and rumors get out of control.
The Secret Mansion is the perfect mystery for kids between the ages of 8 and 12, as it is engaging and not too scary.
What awaits them is an adventure, terror, friendship, and a Secret so precious that they\'ll need to combine all their resources to protect it.
What they find is shocking - an old man with a sword, weeping before a fire.
They go inside.
Surely this beautiful place can\'t be haunted ...
In the moonlight, the waves lap gently against the shore.
It\'s a labyrinth inside, and what secrets could this strange house possibly hold? At last, they reach the back of the house, next to the lake.
Inside are countless Rooms - far too easy to get lost in.
Through the ancient windows, a light shines - but how can that be? The mansion has been abandoned for years! Hasn\'t it? Too afraid to try the front door, they slip around the side of the enormous house.
Or a ghost. or a wolf.
An owl hoots in the distance; a sudden scuffle in the trees might be a fox...
Three stories of stone and wood soar above the frightened boys.
At last, they come upon the manor.
It\'s not enough that Brian almost drowns, and Jerry panics over a turtle peeing on him; nope, they\'re stuck walking through the eerie woods at midnight, jumping at every sound, possibly doomed to suffer the same fate as others who have visited the Secret mansion.
Jackson won\'t quit tormenting the three friends until they venture out at night to explore the strange, haunted Crandon Manor.
Not only that but they\'re being picked on by the rude bully Jackson Hocek (yep, son of the evil mayor whose father tried to have Hiram Crandon murdered long ago).
No air conditioning, no Wi-fi, no Twinkies, and no way out for a whole week.
And they\'re miserable.
Their parents want them to learn character, so they\'re stuck in the middle of the wilderness, swimming, hiking, and canoeing.
And guess what: they hate it! Elton misses his cell phone
Brian is scared of his own shadow, and Jerry is allergic to everything.
Elton, Brian, and Jerry are three eleven-year-old boys at a summer camp for the first time. something that the wicked Mayor Hocek will stop at nothing to take for himself.
But he was hiding something ...
They gossiped about him, feared him, and tormented him until he disappeared forever.
Hiram Crandon was odd; everyone in town believed that he practiced dark magic out in the forest.
Now, three boys have to discover his Secret before something precious is destroyed forever.
Long ago, a strange hermit built a Secret mansion in the woods
