I suddenly have kids in junior high and high school. Gone are the days when I could conduct reader research on the friends innocently coming to our house to play. But I’m oh so proud of what these kids are growing into. They are awake and aware and ready to light the way for the rest of us. Max and Katie, thank you for being brave. As always, I am cheering for you from the sidelines.
As I write this, my brother is battling cancer. I truly believe that somewhere out there is a kid who will uncover the answer and beat back this very real demon. Maybe this kid is even reading Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter right now.
And lastly, this book is for Mike, my cheerleader, always willing to lend me some of his faith when mine runs dry. I am lucky and grateful to be on this journey with you. Steady on.
More from the Author
Double Cross
Power Play
Mrs. Smith's Spy School for Girls
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Beth McMullen is the author of the Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls series and several adult mysteries. Her books have mighty girls, messy situations, really bad bad guys, action, adventure, thrills, chills, and laughs.
An avid reader, she once missed her subway stop and rode the train all the way to Brooklyn because the book she was reading was that good.
She lives in Northern California with her family, two cats, and a parakeet named Zeus, who is sick of the cats eyeballing him like he’s dinner.
Visit her at www.BethMcMullenBooks.com.
ALADDIN
Simon & Schuster, New York
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Beth-McMullen
ALSO BY BETH MCMULLEN
MRS. SMITH’S SPY SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
MRS. SMITH’S SPY SCHOOL FOR GIRLS #2: POWER PLAY
MRS. SMITH’S SPY SCHOOL FOR GIRLS #3: DOUBLE CROSS
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
First Aladdin hardcover edition August 2020
Text copyright © 2020 by Beth McMullen
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Book designed by Laura Lyn DiSiena
Jacket designed by Laura Lyn DiSiena
Jacket illustration copyright © 2020 by Fiona Hsieh
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: McMullen, Beth, 1969– author.
Title: Lola Benko, treasure hunter / Beth McMullen.
Description: New York : Aladdin, 2020. | Audience: Ages 9-13. |
Summary: Sent to a private school after multiple brushes with the law, twelve-year-old Lola Benko recruits classmates to help find her archaeologist father, who disappeared while seeking a powerful mythical stone.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020022156 (print) | LCCN 2020022157 (eBook) |
ISBN 9781534456693 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534456716 (eBook)
Subjects: CYAC: Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. | Relics—Fiction. |
Supernatural—Fiction. | Conduct of life—Fiction. | Private schools—Fiction. |
Schools—Fiction. | Missing persons—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.M4644 Lol 2020 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.M4644 (eBook) |
DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020022156
LC eBook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020022157