David Patneaude: 9 books

**Fifteen-year-old Bobby Hastings witnesses an atomic explosion near a top secret New Mexico army base in July of 1945. **Terrified, he soon heads off on his bike for home, only to encounter something that rivals the blast for drama. A girl his age stands naked at the side of the lonely desert road:...

Eleven-year-old Joe Hanada likes playing basketball with his best friend, Ray, writing plays and stories, and thinking about the upcoming Christmas holiday. But his world falls apart when Japanese planes bomb Pearl Harbor. His country goes to war. The FBI takes his father away. And neighbors and friends...

When his baby sister disappears from the river near their summer home, eighth grader Chris fights the assumption that she has drowned and sets off on a journey to discover the truth.

Nine years ago, a hit-and-run driver killed Casey's mother. Casey swears revenge if she ever finds out the driver's identity. Every year Casey receives an anonymous envelope full of money. Is it blood money—from her mother's killer?

When a chance yard-sale purchase nets five boys a Willie Mays rookie card worth $4,000, their lives seem to narrow and intensify. The boys devise a "last man" contest--the winner gets the Mays card, and the losers get zip.

Nelson just wants to play baseball and maybe, one day, realize his dream of pitching. Then his manager is suspended and two players leave the team. On top of that, it seems that the park where the team practices may be haunted.

Russell's summer seems doomed. He's stuck in small-town Oregon without anything fun. Then a legend about an old meteorite envelops him and he makes a dangerous trip into the mountains to find the meteorite, rumored to be rare and valuable.

Josh isn't happy to be starting at a new school. Maybe it's a chance to be somebody—not so easy for a kid who's been pretty average and is overweight besides. But he is pumped when a cool kid asks hims to play ice hockey.

Peter's been sent to Resthaven Hospital because his stepfather thinks Peter is emotionally disturbed and wants to harm his younger half-brother, Lincoln. But Peter loves Lincoln, and Peter is the only one who knows about Lincoln's unusual dreams.