A Hitch at the Fairmont – Booktalking #kidlit

A Hitch at the Fairmont
by Jim Averbeck (Author) and Nick Bertozzi (Illustrator)

Booktalk: After the mysterious death of his mother, eleven-year-old Jack Fair is whisked away to San Francisco’s swanky Fairmont Hotel by his wicked Aunt Edith. There, he seems doomed to a life of fetching chocolates for his aunt and her pet chinchilla. Until one night, when Aunt Edith disappears, and the only clue is a ransom note written…in chocolate?

Suddenly, Jack finds himself all alone on a quest to discover who kidnapped Aunt Edith and what happened to his mother. Alone, that is, until he meets an unlikely accomplice—Alfred Hitchcock himself!

Snippet: Hitchcock was still shaken but seemed to calm down as he mopped his sodden brow. He folded his damp handkerchief in half four times. When he stuffed it in his pocket he was fully composed.

“I suppose you thought that was clever,” he said. “That woman wanted to help you.”

“Into an orphanage,” said Jack. “Who would find Aunt Edith then?”

Hitchcock shrugged. “The police–”