about the book
Do you believe in fate? No? Well fate brings three young people together one day. Each seeks a treasure that will make their fondest dreams come true…but they won’t find the treasures unless they work together.
Orphaned Giuseppe was sold by his uncle to work as a slave and street musician under an oppressive master. He dreams of returning to Italy to find his siblings. Giuseppe has just recovered a mysterious green violin.
Orphaned and unable to remember his past, Frederick is an apprentice clockmaker, who dreams of becoming a journeyman clockmaker and entering the guild. In secret, he has been building an automaton clock in the shape of a man. He has just discovered an antique bronze head. Can he get the intricate mechanism inside working?
Hannah, who works as a maid in a grand hotel, dreams about earning enough money to find a cure for her dying father. Almost fired, she has been given the opportunity to work with a mysterious woman who lives at the hotel and claims to speak to the dead. Hannah has found an old map of the hotel’s hidden passageways.
In a rousing adventure, these three strangers unite to face unscrupulous villains in their search for a hidden room and treasures that could change their lives forever.
about the author
Every writer draws on his own past. A Navy brat born in Utah, Matthew Kirby lived in several states and attended three different elementary schools and three different high schools. He always liked to write, especially comic books in high school. In college, drawing from the places and people he had met, Matthew wrote poetry and short stories with science fiction and fantasy themes.
He studied history at Utah State University, earning M.S. and Ed.S degrees in school psychology. For ten months of each year, he works as the school psychologist for a large Utah school district. The other two months he writes! The Clockwork Three is his debut novel for young readers.
Matthew was inspired to write this story while he was studying history. He came across the true story of an Italian boy, Joseph, who was sold into slavery in the 1870’s. The boy had lived with his master in New York City until he had enough courage to escape and testify against his abusive owner. Matthew based Giuseppe on Joseph.
Matthew currently lives in Spanish Fork, Utah with his wife, Jaime.
Sources:
Author website
Author page : KidsRead
Author biography : Wikipedia
Also by Matthew Kirby:
Spell Robbers (Quantum League, Book 1). Scholastic. 2014.
The Lost Kingdom. Scholastic. 2013.
Cave of Wonders (Infinity Ring, Book 5). Scholastic. 2013.
Icefall. Scholastic. 2011.
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