Room One

Written by Andrew Clements · Illustrated by Mark Elliott

A boy sees a face in an empty house, linking it to his school's uncertain future.

3.8/5 Goodreads · 3,549 ratings

176 pages· 28,139 words· Est. 4 hour read

$19.99Save 5%

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Bookroo's summary

Fifth-grader Ted Hammond is captivated by mysteries. In his small Nebraska town, his school faces closure with only five students left. But Ted's attention is drawn to a face in the window of an abandoned house. The Andersons moved away years ago, so who could it be? As Ted delves deeper, he discovers that in a tight-knit community, no event stands alone. Solving one mystery might just unravel another. Can Ted connect the dots before his school and town fade away? Uncover the secrets hidden in plain sight.

From the publisher

Ted Hammond loves a good mystery, and in the spring of his fifth-grade year, he’s working on a big one. How can his school in the little town of Plattsford stay open next year if there are going to be only five students? Out here on the Great Plains in western Nebraska, everyone understands that if you lose the school, you lose the town. But the mystery that has Ted’s full attention at the moment is about that face, the face he sees in the upper window of the Andersons’ house as he rides past on his paper route. The Andersons moved away two years ago, and their old farmhouse is empty, boarded up tight. At least it’s supposed to be. A shrinking school in a dying town. A face in the window of an empty house. At first these facts don’t seem to be related. But Ted Hammond learns that in a very small town, there’s no such thing as an isolated event. And the solution of one mystery is often the beginning of another.

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