Bøker av Mel Gilden

BORN TO HOWLONCE A WEREWOLF ALWAYS A WEREWOLF?Fifth grader Howie Wolfner comes from a long line of hairy relatives, but lately he's found his sudden transformations into a wolfboy embarrassing. He wants to be a real boy like his friend Danny Keegan. The only question is-can he do it?Howie's other monster friends at P.S.13 are full of suggestions. C.D. Bitesky thinks an old gypsy woman might have just the right spell. Frankie Stein's computer recommends a stake through the heart at midnight. Yet it's Danny's sister Barbara and Elisa Stein who come up with the best cure for Howie's problem-by leading him on a truly hair-raising adventure!WELCOME TO P.S. 13 and the crazy classroom of THE FIFTH GRADE MONSTERS!

ISLAND OF THE WEIRDWHAT IS THE BROOKLYN TRIANGLE AND HOW CAN DANNY AND HIS FRIENDS GET OUT OF IT?Danny and his monster friends have come up with the coolest science project ever. They''re going to build a submarine to find a sunken pirate ship. Butwhen they test the engine, it explodes! They get blasted into a weird dimension Frankie Stein calls "The Brooklyn Triangle."First they''re lost at sea, then they''re stranded on a mysterious island. Danny doesn''t mind a little excitement, but this adventure is too far out! The Fifth Grade Monsters have to get out of this mess or they may never see home again!Welcome to P.S. 13 and the crazy classroom of THE FIFTH GRADE MONSTERS!

THE MONSTER IN CREEPS HEAD BAYIS THERE REALLY A SEA SERPENT IN CREEPS HEAD BAY?Lots of people think they''ve seen one, and Captain Long John Silverman is offering a reward to anyone who can prove it exists. Danny isn''t sure he believes in the creature, but his new friend Gilly Finn is positive the sea serpent is out there, and she intends to find it. Could Gilly''s sympathy for the beast have anything to do with the tiny fins that seem to glimmer on her wrists? Or the pale green color of her skin?One thing is for sure: there''s something mysterious going on in Creeps Head Bay, and if the Fifth Grade Monsters can''t get to the bottom of it, no one can!WELCOME TO P.S. 13 and the Crazy classroom of THE FIFTH GRADE MONSTERS!

SAVE THE MONSTERS!Danny Keegan and his monster pals C.D. Bitesky, Howie Wolfner, and Elisa and Frankie Stein are thrilled when their old friend Zelda Bella-who they think may be a witch-turns up as the star of the new TV show Mother Scary''s Matinee.But Zelda Bella''s TV career may be short-lived. Weird Arthur Debarber and his Monster Mashers want to keep Brooklyn monster-free, and they''re determined to see Mother Scary off the air-and deported to Rumania.It''s up to Danny and his friends to save Zelda Bella. If the Monster Mashers succeed, they won''t stop until C.D., Howie, and the Steins have been sent back to where they came from, too!WELCOME TO P.S. 13 and the crazy classroom of THE FIFTH GRADE MONSTERS

A MICROCHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCKAll his fifth grade friends at P.S. 13 think Frankie Stein has inherited the electronic genius of his namesake, Baron Frankenstein. But Frankie isn''tso sure. When he hears his father complain about the younger generation, he knows he is being put to the test. Can Frankie prove he is as good an inventor as his ancestor-or will his disillusioned parents turn him back into spare parts?C.D. Bitesky, Howie Wolfner, Elisa Stein and Danny and Barbara Keegan are willing to do anything to help their friend. But when Frankie finds the disassembled pieces of a mechanical dog, only he can put them together-and finally bring the pet of Baron Frankenstein to life!WELCOME TO P.S. 13!

THE SECRET OF DINOSAUR BOGDINOSAURS AHEAD!The Keegan family attic is full of forgotten treasures-including a weird statue of a dinosaur. When the dinosaur''s eye falls out, everyone''s luck changes for the worse. Now Dinosaur Bog is draining, ghost dinosaurs are running through Danny Keegan''s bedroom, and class bully Stevie Brickwald just showed up with his suitcase for an unexpected stay!Danny and his monster friends must solve the mystery and free Brooklyn from bad luck . . . by travelling into the past in search of dinosaurs!Join THE FIFTH GRADE MONSTERS on a trip through time!

TROLL PATROLA MONSTROUS SUMMER CAMP!The kids from P.S. 13 are enjoying their summer vacation at Camp Horrorific, but things keep disappearing from their bunks! Only Danny Keegan and his monster pals know what''s behind the creepy goings-on-trolls from the woods surrounding the camp are robbing the campers blind!The problem is, nobody believes Danny and his friends. It''s up to them to catch the trolls, but they end up snaring friendly dwarves in their troll traps instead. Can the Fifth Grade Monsters and their pint-sized allies stop the thieves and save the day-or have they stumbled into giant-sized trouble?Join THE FIFTH GRADE MONSTERS on summer vacation.

MONSTER BOYA SUPER TRIP!The fifth grade class trip to the Museum of Strange Sciences and Inventions sounded super to Danny Keegan and his monster pals. But when class bully Stevie Brickwald starts touching the museum displays, things get very weird!Danny is zapped into a different Brooklyn. Now he''s the kid with strange powers and all his friends are normal. Now he can fly like a bat, swim like a fish, and smell like a werewolf. In this wild new Brooklyn, Stevie Brickwald is a 25-foot-tall menace, and the only one who can stop him is Danny Keegan, Monster Boy!WELCOME TO P.S. 13 and the crazy classroom of the FIFTH GRADE MONSTERS!

WEREWOLF, COME HOMEIT''S A DOG''S LIFEWhat happens when a werewolf gets sick? He turns into a dog! When Howie Wolfner comes down with the mongrels, Danny Keegan and his monster pals are worried. What if Howie the werewolf never becomes a boy again?Danny and the Fifth Grade Monsters enlist the help of Zelda Bella, their witch friend. Maybe she knows a potion that will turn Howie into a boy. But when they take Howie to visit Zelda Bella, they find that her house has been bewitched. Can they help her undo the spell and find her potion? Or is Howie doomed to be hairy forever?WELCOME TO P.S. 13 and the crazy classroom of the FIFTH GRADE MONSTERS!

HOW TO BE A VAMPIRE IN ONE EASY LESSONWHAT''S WORSE THAN STEVIE BRICKWALD, THE BULLY STEVIE BRICKWALD, THE VAMPIRE!When class creep Stevie starts acting friendly toward the monster kids, Danny smells a rat. Stevie says he wants C.D. Bitesky to teach him how to be a vampire. Danny''s other monster friends seem to think it''s a good idea.Danny''s not so sure. Are his friend just playing a big trick on Stevie the bully? Or could those vampire lessons really be working?Welcome to P.S. 13 and the crazy classroom of THE FIFTH GRADE MONSTERS!

ZOMBIE TO GOWhen Danny Keegan and his monster friends at P.S. 13 hear about a new pizza parlor, they can''t wait to sample the food.Yet when they get to the restaurant, they discover that their pizza is served by dancing zombies-and that one of the zombies looks suspiciously like their beloved teacher Ms. Cosgrove!What is the secret of the Zombie Pizza Parlor? Can Ms. Cosgrove be saved? Or will she and Danny be turned into monsters too?WELCOME TO P.S. 13 and the crazy classroom of THE FIFTH GRADE MONSTERS

YUCKERS!  WHAT SMELLS LIKE COTTON CANDY AND GOES THUMP, THUMP, THUMP?Stevie Brickwald is so gross. He even eats Yuckers! cereal, and everyone knows it''s full of weird chemicals. Then Stevie mixes Yuckers! with a secret ingredient, and very strange things start happening at school.All the lunch milk disappears. A small pink dog is seen diving into the drinking fountain. A mysterious thumping interrupts Ms. Cosgrove''s math class.Could there really be another monster loose at P.S. 13? Danny Keegan knows that all monsters aren''t bad. After all, some of his best friends are monsters.WELCOME TO P.S. 13 and the Crazy classroom of THE FIFTH GRADE MONSTERS!

THINGS THAT GO BARK IN THE PARKWHO ARE THE HOUNDS OF HECK AND WHY ARE THEY CHASING STEVE BRICKWALD?The good news is that Wonder Hill amusement park is finally going to open. Everyone in Ms. Cosgrove''s fifth grade class is excited when millionaire Roland Hill gives them a special invitation to check out its fabulous rides before it officially opens to the public. The bad news is: Wonder Hill is haunted!Even howling ghost dogs don''t seem so terrible, though, when they kidnap bully Stevie Brickwald. Frankly, Danny Keegan and his unusual friends C.D. Bitesky, Howie Wolfner, and Frankie and Elisa Stein don''t miss Stevie (and his famous pulverizing punch) one bit. But they''re the ones who can find him.Stevie''s disappearance is tied to the forces now imprisoning his classmates in Wonder Hill. Unless the Fifth Grade Monsters can get to the bottom of the mystery, their whole class is doomed.WELCOME TO P.S. 13 and the crazy classroom of THE FIFTH GRADE MONSTERS!

M IS FOR MONSTER  MONSTERS HAVE TAKEN OVER  THE FIFTH GRADE!Danny Keegan wants his fifth grade class to be different and, well, exciting.  But when he meets four new kids who give new meaning to the term “weird” he realizes he’s in for more excitement than he bargained for!! There’s C.D. Bitesky, who has sharp little fangs and a pet bat named Spike .  .  .  Howie Wolfner who gets pretty hairy whenever it rains .  .  . and Elisa and Frankie Stein, sister and brother, who insist the metal shafts sticking out of their necks are just braces—the result of an auto accident. Danny’s sister Barbara says his new friends should go back to whatever nightmare they came from. But Danny thinks he’s in for a frighteningly good time. He just hopes fifth grade won’t be his last! WELCOME TO P.S. 13!

In the tradition of the old Ace Doubles (flip the book over to read the second title), here's the nineteenth Wildside Mystery Double. THE QUEEN OF DIAMONDS: A PSYCHOLOGICAL MYSTERY, by Tracey Landau. Leslie Adams doesn't often get angry, upset, or worried. So when Molly, his sister, first disappeared, Les kept calm and used his head. When he was nearly killed in a house explosion while searching for his sister, well, that rattled him a bit, but still Les kept his wits about him. Now the police are blaming him for the explosion, as well as a botched robbery in which a woman was killed. His schizophrenia is becoming a problem, he's being stalked by a mysterious woman that may or may not exist, and his siblings are questioning his sanity. Understandably, Les is feeling a bit stressed, but he has everything under control. More than that, his delusions are the key to discovering the truth about the robbery and his sister's disappearance. At least, that's what he hopes. The crime debut of a startling new writer! THE LUCKY DUCK AFFAIR: A TALE OF MYSTERY, by Mel Gilden. In need of a vacation, private detective Amos True and his companion, Polly St. Jough, accept an invitation to relax aboard Otto Laird's slightly illegal gambling ship, the Lucky Duck. Joining them are movie starlet Clair de Lune, enthusiastic writer Ruth Booth, and a number of other suspicious characters. But True soon learns about Laird's ulterior motive for inviting him and Polly out to sea. The Lucky Duck has become haunted by the ghost of Captain Henry Robbins, a smuggler who years ago commanded the ship. When first one guest and then another is murdered, the ghost of Captain Robbins is the main suspect. Can Amos, with the help of Polly, uncover the real culprit? Another great off-beat mystery by the author of Dangerous Hardboiled Magicians!

"Gilden proves that you can write first-rate humorous science fiction." -The Science Fiction ChronicleHe called himself Zoot Marlowe, said he''d just blown in from Cay City, but even the wacked out surfer dudes could tell that the four-fout detective with the giant schnoz was from somewhere out of their world. Still, he could throw a mean frisbee and he said he was a private eye, and when someone decided to smash and trash all the surfing robots in Malibu just days before the biggest surfing contest of the year, Zoot was the only being around willing to track the bot beaters down. But Zoot didn''t know just how widespread a conspiracy he was about to run up against. For this first case of his Earthly career would see him taking on everything from the Malibu cops to Samurai robots; motorcycle madmen to talking gorillas; and a misplaced mistress of genetic manipulation!Mel Gilden is the author of many children''s books, some of which received rave reviews in such places as School Library Journal and Booklist. His multi-part stories for children appeared frequently in the Los Angeles Times. His popular novels and short stories for grown-ups have also received good reviews in the Washington Post and other publications. Licensed properties include adaptations of feature films, and of TV shows such as Beverly Hills, 90210; and NASCAR Racers. He has also written books based on video games and has written original stories based in the Star Trek universe. His short stories have appeared in many original and reprint anthologies.He has written cartoons for TV, has developed new shows, and was assistant story editor for the DIC television production of The Real Ghostbusters. He consulted at Disney and Universal, helping develop theme park attractions. Gilden spent five years as co-host of the science-fiction interview show, Hour-25, on KPFK radio in Los Angeles.Gilden lectures to school and library groups, and has been known to teach fiction writing. He lives in Los Angeles, California, where the debris meets the sea, and still hopes to be an astronaut when he grows up.