about the book
Throckmorton S. Monkey had once been hugged and cuddled, but since the maid tossed him in with the other old stuffed animals, Annaliese has ignored him. He is miserable. Everyone knows that sock monkeys only truly come alive when a child loves them. Obviously, his love, loyalty, and never-ending smile are just not good enough. He has to do something so remarkable that Annaliese will never forget him again!
Annaliese is nine and the baby of the family. The Easterlings are very wealthy and live in a hulking old coastal Maine mansion called Eastcliff-By-The-Sea. It is an isolated place. Annaliese very rarely leaves and she is not allowed to have friends. Her older twin brothers Evan and Teddy go to military school. Her only companions are her new nanny…and Throckmorton.
Annaliese’s mother, Olivia, ran away nine years ago. Her father, Judge Ellis, refuses to speak about his wife and will not allow the children to communicate with her in any way. The children are forbidden from going into the attic where Olivia’s things are stored. The Judge rules with an iron fist. No one dares disobey him, but Annaliese is desperate to learn why her mother left.
One day, four engraved invitations to a party on Valentine’s Day are delivered! Each is addressed to a sock monkey and its keeper! Annaliese’s very rich and quirky Great-Grandmother Ethel made Throckmorton and 48 other sock monkeys for each of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. And now to celebrate her 90th birthday…and to ensure what she considers the proper distribution of inheritances…she states “no monkey, no money”!
The judge and the twins have no clue where their sock monkeys are! A mad search leads the children to the forbidden attic where the monkeys are found, along with information about their missing mother. Throckmorton, finally back in his owner’s arms helps sleuth for additional clues about Olivia.
Mysteries are revealed on the night of the party, and the sock monkeys and their keepers have to figure out what is going on. Each sock monkey is personalized and has a secret hidden within them. Ethel helps Annaliese make her very first sock monkey. Unfortunately, thieves, believing that the monkeys hide gems, threaten the toys and their keepers!
This is Throckmorton’s big chance. But what can he do in this kind of situation? After all he is just a stuffed animal…or is he?
about the author
Eileen Beha grew up in Wisconsin and once won a blue ribbon at the fair for her homemade brownies. She still has a passion for cooking (especially cardamom buns and scratch buttermilk pancakes), but now she lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Ralph, and pooches Tango and Daisy. Though she loves cooking for their four children, their spouses, and four grandsons, she doesn’t have as much time to do it. Eileen is busy writing books for young readers!
Eileen knows her audience. She holds a Ph.D. in Education Administration from the University of Wisconsin, and for many years she was a teacher and a middle school principal. She also earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University.
Her novel The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea might never have been written. Her first book for middle grade readers, Tango : The Tale of an Island Dog, was about to be published, and Eileen needed an idea for another book. Her son-in-law was a percussionist and keyboard player with indie rock-star Andrew Bird. A fan gave Andrew and each band member a sock monkey. Dressed in a suit, tie, and Converse sneakers, Andrew’s monkey appeared on stage during every performance, even on television with David Letterman and Jay Leno!
Eileen was captivated by the monkey sitting on the stacked speakers and wanted to write a book about the touring toy. She even had a title, Sock Monkey, Rock Monkey! But no matter how many characters she conjured, how much back story she imagined, or how many new plot lines, the story just refused to be written. Then finally, Eileen realized the story was really about the mysterious person in the band. Her sock monkey would experience his shining moment in the spotlight for reasons that brought neither fame nor fortune!
The story ended up more personal than Eileen expected. During the influenza epidemic of 1918, her mother, Marcella, lost her own mother. She was just five years old when her father and his new wife rejected her. Marcella was raised by her mother’s sister, Eileen’s Great Aunt Ida. Before Eileen’s mother died in 2007, she gave Eileen her most precious possession, an old bisque and sawdust-stuffed doll named Ida Mae. Aunt Ida had made it for Marcella and she loved it almost as much as she loved Aunt Ida. The doll sat in a chair beside Eileen’s desk through her long writing process, reminding her of the yearning that was passed down from her very own mother and found its way into Annaliese’s story.
Source:
Author website
Also by Eileen Beha:
Tango : The Tale of an Island Dog. Bloomsbury USA Children’s. 2009.
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