The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage, The Sequel to Three Times Lucky

Mo LoBeau, Dale, and his intrepid hound, Queen Elizabeth, are back! Their Desperado Detective Agency is open for business to find the next lost pet or the solve next mystery. Luckily for Mo and Dale, after Miss Lana accidentally purchases the old broken down Tupelo Junction Inn in an auction, she discovers it comes complete with its resident ghost. The Ghost of Tupelo Junction!

Strangely enough, the ghost appears to Mo, Dale, and their new friend Harm, but will she appear to adults? What do you think?

Why do ghosts haunt houses? Will the ghost tell the kids why she is still haunting the Tupelo Junction Inn? (Can ghosts talk?)

Luckily, in a school project their teacher, Miss Retzyl, requires her students to research a piece of their town history by interviewing its oldest residents. Researching by interviewing and reporting on an elderly resident may be the goal but finding the right citizen is a bit more difficult, for many funny reasons. Most of the good ones are already taken! Will this cause Mo and Dale to pre-flunk history as Dale predicts?

During their search, the kids become curious about the ghost and, through a turn of events, discover that the ghost is that of Nellie Blake. How does what happened to her over 70 years earlier cause her death when she was only 12 years old? Was she sick? Did she die in an accident? Was she murdered? MURDERED? The Desperado Detective Agency is on the job! Will they be able to find clues that are buried by 70 years of dust?

Then in a sudden touch of genius, Mo decides on the one she and Dale should interview! Who could be OLDER than a GHOST? So Mo and her reluctant counterpart choose to interview the ghost! In the process, they will find puzzle pieces that fit together to discover answers and truths.

Sprinkled on the path to their discovering answers are many red herrings that distract the young detectives from the truth hidden in time. Will you recognize a red herring when you see it?

Like Three Times Lucky, the first Tupelo Junction romp, this murder mystery is narrated by plucky Mo LeBeau herself who has raised the bar for fun and excellence in children's and young adult literature! No gore! Not even a drop of blood! You will love its engaging characters and of course Nellie the Ghost. The vocabulary will set your problem-solving mind to bouncing! Its 352-pages of spell-binding events are illustrated with the best, most unique pieces of figurative language ever written! Original similes like "Lana floated between phone, customers, and cash register, graceful as a dandelion seed on the wind" punctuate the text with mind-pictures. Prepare to be surprised when interwoven stories create memories that spell out "MY FAVORITE BOOK EVER" for even the most reluctant reader!

For classroom connections, the page Kids Wings Literature Guide and 53-slide Jeopardy-type interactive game for The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing will extend the fun, hone reading skills, stimulate interaction by having students assume roles of characters, inspire problem-solving, and lay the foundation for positive character development.

In addition, busy teachers love the many pages of authentic multiple-choice, short-answer check-ups as well as connected research, picturing the text and writing prompts connected to real award-winning literature! You can depend on Kids Wings to prepare your students for standardized testing by stimulating, challenging, and stretching their brains instead of lulling them to sleep with boring, mind-numbing drill-and-kill!

The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing is the much-anticipated sequel to the celebrated winner of a 2012 Newbery Honor Award. Three Times Lucky. This sequel continues to bring laughter, suspense, and excitement into your classroom that will have your kids begging to read, expanding their vocabularies, predicting what will happen next, making connections between characters and their importance to the Tupelo Landing community, and be ready to face real problems in their own lives with courage, humor, and ingenuity.

The Kids Wings Literature Guide by Suzy Red comes to you in both PowerPoint and PDF formats. The activities include:

Prereading Discussion Cards

Anticipation Guide

Readers Theater Script

Creating and Using a Dialectical Journal

Scientific Investigation with The Process Skills Song

Detective Notes

Map Skills: Where in the World is North Carolina

Become a Character! Experience the Fun!

Character Studies

Tracking Figurative Language

5-in-a-Row Vocabulary Logic with Blank 5-in-a-Row Template

9 Grouped Chapters: Vocabulary, Predict-Read-Confirm

Multiple Choice and Short Answer Chapter Check-ups

Visualizing the Text, Draw Your Answer

Collecting and Using Visuals and Text Evidence

Crossword Puzzle

Analogies

The Murder Mystery Motif Logic Puzzle

Research Projects

Recall, Analyze, Discuss, and Write About Events

Crossword Puzzle: The Climax

Who Done It, Final Thoughts

A Fallen Letter Puzzle

Character Poems

THE GRAND FINALE: Stage "Nellie's Song" sung to Willie Nelson's Dance Across Texas on YouTube

Classroom Discussion and Debate

Writing Prompts

Poster Templates for Character Analysis During Reading

Answer Pages

Plus, a BONUS Interactive Jeopardy-type Game in PowerPoint format.

PLEASE NOTE: Kids Wings materials are written by highly experienced master teachers. We hire professional proof readers who are also master educators. We do our best to be sure each of our literature guides is top quality and error free, and classroom tested, but if you think we can do better, we welcome your input. If you find an error in our materials, please email us at suzy@suzyred.com so we can make corrections. After it is revised, we will invite you to download a newly polished copy and will probably attach a surprise to our reply as a thank-you!

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