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Booktalking Colorado Full Record:

  Title: Search for the Shadowman  
  Author: Nixon, Joan Lowry  
  Date Published: 1996  
  Genre: Mystery  
  Grade Level: 5 - 6  
  Booktalker: Bonnie Phinney  
Book Jacket  

Booktalk:
Andy hated his homework assignment. Why couldn’t he study something important, like outer space, or the 21st century? Why should he waste his time talking to old relatives about Texas history – history, just a bunch of wars, cattle drives, and outlaws? Outlaws? Andy thought about all the stories his Aunt Winnie had been telling him all his life. Borrrring. No outlaws there. But then he got to thinking – what about her life-long feud with his best friend’s grandmother? Maybe that could prove more interesting. “Tell me some people stories, Aunt Minnie,” he asked, “and don’t forget to include bank robbers and horse thieves.” But Aunt Winnie just replied, “Some stories are for the telling, some are not. And I’ll decide which are which.” His curiosity was piqued and suddenly her stories became really interesting…especially when she said all his ancestor’s hard earned money had been stolen. Stolen? “Who stole it?” But his aunt only snapped at him. “It was long ago and best forgotten.” Andy, of course, could not forget. With an old shoebox full of mementos and pictures, Andy began his quest for answers. He found an old nail, bent into the shape of a circle. Who did it belong to? What did it mean? He found a family bible, with a list of all his relatives. Why was one name crossed out? He found an old family portrait. What secrets did it hold? He tried to ask his aunt, but was rebuked: Suddenly Andy’s genealogy project was a whole lot more interesting. He sets out to solve a mystery – a 100-year-old mystery. Who was the mysterious person whose name is crossed out? Was he the one who stole the family savings? Why won’t anybody talk about him? Only HE knew the answers, but how could Andy talk to the dead? And why was someone so determined to stop him from finding the answers? What deep, dark secret was he about to uncover?