THE SECRET KEEPERS by Trenton Lee Stewart
Kids' Wings Award for Award-Winning Literature
Entertainment Weekly that named this Best Book of the Year
An Amazon #1 Best Book of the Year
An ALA Notable Book of the Year
A New York Times Best Seller

Reuben Pedley is growing up in the best and worst of all worlds.
He's free but his father died when he was very young and his mother works two jobs and can't watch after him.
He's poor but the city in which he lives holds enticing alleyways with walls that beg to be climbed and people who seem to invite eavesdroppers.
Reuben is becoming a problem-solver begging to be tested, an acrobat looking for a challenge, and a treasure hunter confronted by the limits of hidden impossibilities.

When he scales vertical walls just to prove it can be done, he finds a high, narrow perch where he can catch his breath. There, his attention is drawn to a leather strap rooted in the mortar between bricks. What could be buried in the mortar on the other end of the strap? When he digs the mortar away, the mystery begins, for buried between the bricks is a warn leather pouch and inside the pouch is a hinged box lined in velvet that holds ... did you guess an antique watch with a secret of its own? Reuben is determined to solve its secret, to discover how it works and to follow the clue that leads to surprising answers and more secrets.

As you read The Secret Keepers, you will not be able to resist following Reuben into a mystery unlike any other. Put your problem solving expertise to work and, with him, delve into one secret after another. What is the danger that the watch holds? How can a poor kid with no friends and no money become the one who stands face-to-face with the most evil man in the world and attempts to out-think him?

The Secret Keepers is a novel set in a metropolis that is ruled by an evil, selfish man armed, with a powerful magical antique watch that is identical to the one Reuben found on the ledge.  

Activities in this literature guide include:
Pre-Reading Discussion Cards for Part I
Anticipation Guide
Preparing Your Intellectual Tools
My Log of the Stories Mysteries
Growing Your Vocabulary (Lists and Suggested Activities)
Picturing Word Pairs
Part I: The Ticking Clock, Pages 3-151
3-Page Readers Theater for "Walking Backward Toward the Sky"
Chapters 1-3, Group Prediction, Titles to Summaries
Character Studies
Chapters 1-3: Multiple Choice and Short Answer Check-up
Chapters 4-6, Group Prediction, Titles to Summaries
Visualizing the Story: Chapters 4-6
Chapters 7-9, Group Prediction, Titles to Summaries
Logic Puzzle: Power and Price
Chapters 7-9: Multiple Choice and Short Answer Check-up
Chapters 10-13, Group Prediction, Titles to Summaries
Crossword Puzzle: The Power of Words
Part II: The Meyer Legacy, Pages 163-297
Pre-Reading Discussion Cards for Part II
Chapters 14-17, Group Prediction, Titles to Summaries
Visualizing the Text, Pages 163-216
Logic Puzzle: The Lighthouse at Point William
Chapters 18-20, Group Prediction, Titles to Summaries
Group Challenge, Pages 217-252, Moving Through Invisibility
Characteristics of the Meyer Family Members
Chapters 21-24, Group Prediction, Titles to Summaries
Chapters 18-21: Multiple Choice and Short Answer Check-up
Chapter 21: Understanding Wisdom Puzzle
Visualizing the Text, Pages Chapter 22
Analyzing Summaries of Chapters 23 and 24
Hidden Secrets in the Tunnels, Short Answer and Multiple Choice, Pages 217-262
Chapter III: Illustrate Your Favorite Events from Your Favorite Chapters
PART III: HOME AND NOT HOME
Chapters 25-27, Group Prediction, Titles to Summaries
Visualizing the Text, Pages Chapters 25-27
Putting the Plan Into Action, A 5-Page Readers Theater Script
Before the Storm , Chapters 26-27: Multiple Choice & Short Answers Check-up
Chapters 28-31, Group Prediction, Titles to Summaries
Visualizing the Text, Sensing Tricks and Traps, Pages Chapters 28-30
Analyzing Summaries of Chapters 30 and 31
Chapters 32-35, Group Prediction, Titles to Summaries
Problem Solving Procedures
Chapter 32: Multiple Choice and Vocabulary Match-up
Writing a Summary of Chapter 33
Fallen Tiles Puzzle: Treasure That They Sought
Teacher Page for Fallen Tiles Puzzle: Treasure That They Sought
GAME: How to Play Guess and Request with Treasure That They Sought
My Treasure, Writing Prompt
Visualizing the Text, Chapter 34
The Conclusion: Chapters 36-38 -- Group Prediction, Titles to Summaries
Answer Pages
Jeopardy-type Game   

What more could a Mystery lover want?

"A MAGICAL WATCH."
But it really isn't magic at all.
There is a perfectly scientific explanation for how it can turn its owner ... invisible.
"A STRING OF SECRETS."
But are they really secrets if a whole family knows them?
The first secret has remained a secret for hundreds of years ...
Where did their ancestor hide the dangerous treasure?
Which adventurer will become the finder?
How can the secret of the treasure be discovered?
Can a young adventurer decipher its workings and reveal a dangerous plot that must be stopped before it's too late?
"A RACE AGAINST TIME."
But how can you race the most powerful man in your town when he holds the clock?           

We guarantee you and your kids will love this book and the Kids Wings Activities and Jeopardy-type game!