{"product_id":"the-dark-stairs-paperback","title":"The Dark Stairs - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eBetsy Byars\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMystery is in Herculeah Jones's blood. How could it not be, with a father on the police force and a mother who's a private eye? So when Herculeah notices a man hanging around the \"Dead Oaks\" mansion, she can't resist doing some investigating of her own. Legend has it the old estate was the site of a murder, and now it looks like there's something even more nefarious going on. Can Herculeah crack the case before the mystery man closes in on her?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBetsy Byars began her writing career rather late in life. \"In all of my school years, . . . not one single teacher ever said to me, 'Perhaps you should consider becoming a writer, '\" Byars recalls. \"Anyway, I didn't want to be a writer. Writing seemed boring. You sat in a room all day by yourself and typed. If I was going to be a writer at all, I was going to be a foreign correspondent like Claudette Colbert in \u003cb\u003eArise My Love\u003c\/b\u003e. I would wear smashing hats, wisecrack with the guys, and have a byline known round the world. My father wanted me to be a mathematician.\" So Byars set out to become mathematician, but when she couldn't grasp calculus in college, she turned to English. Even then, writing was not on her immediate horizon.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst, she married and started a family. The writing career didn't emerge until she was 28, a mother of two children, and living in a small place she called the barracks apartment, in Urbana, Illinois. She and her husband, Ed, had moved there in 1956 so he could attend graduate school at the University of Illinois. She was bored, had no friends, and so turned to writing to fill her time. Byars started writing articles for \u003ci\u003eThe Saturday Evening Post\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLook\u003c\/i\u003e, and other magazines. As her family grew and her children started to read, she began to write books for young people and, fortunately for her readers, discovered that there was more to being a writer than sitting in front of a typewriter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Making up stories and characters is so interesting that I'm never bored. Each book has been a different writing experience. It takes me about a year to write a book, but I spend another year thinking about it, polishing it, and making improvements. I always put something of myself intomy books -- something that happened to me. Once a wanderer came by my house and showed me how to brush my teeth with a cherry twig; that went in \u003ci\u003eThe House of Wingscopyright (c) 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 160\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.43 x 7.01 x 4.96 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 02, 2006\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAccelerated Reader:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eQuiz Name:\u003c\/strong\u003e Dark Stairs\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eInterest Level:\u003c\/strong\u003e Middle Grades, 4-8\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReading Level:\u003c\/strong\u003e 3.9\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePoint Value:\u003c\/strong\u003e 3\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47313722605817,"sku":"9780142405925","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0789\/2782\/3097\/files\/wVeN438B269780142405925.webp?v=1769404641","url":"https:\/\/bookscloud.io\/products\/the-dark-stairs-paperback","provider":"BooksCloud Book Dropshipping","version":"1.0","type":"link"}