"A blend of magic, history, and mystery."
Kirkus Reviews

Illustration by Greg Call


Chicago sixth graders Ruthie and Jack think their adventures in the Art Institute's sixty-eight Thorne Rooms are over… until miniatures from the rooms start to disappear. Is it the work of the art thief who's on the loose? Or has someone else discovered the secret of the Thorne Rooms' magic? Ruthie and Jack's quest to stop the thief and protect the rooms takes them from modern-day Chicago to 1937 Paris to the time of slavery in Charleston, South Carolina. But as more items disappear, including the key that allows them to shrink and access the past worlds, what was once just an adventure becomes a life and death race against the clock. Can Ruthie and Jack catch the thief – and help the friends they meet along the way – before the magic and the rooms are destroyed forever?

Marianne Malone is an artist, a former art teacher, and the co-founder of Campus Middle School for Girls in Urbana, Illinois. She is also the mother of three grown children. Marianne's first book for children, The Sixty-Eight Rooms, was named a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book and a Parent's Choice Recommended Winner. Visit her at mariannemalone.com

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