about the book
After her grandfather’s death, thirteen-year-old Theo has to look after her absentminded mother and keep their house running without any income. There’s only $463 left.
When she accidently spills a bottle of rubbing alcohol on one of her grandfather’s paintings, she discovers what appears to be a Renaissance masterpiece underneath. If it’s really a Raphael, it could solve all of Theo’s financial problems.
But is it authentic? And is it even hers to sell? Her grandfather did work at Metropolitan Museum of Art—he could have stolen it!
As Theo runs around Manhattan trying to answer these questions, she makes some new friends and learns more about her grandfather.
about the author
Laura Marx Fitzgerald grew up down south. She moved around a lot, living in Nashville, Tennessee; Norman, Oklahoma; Oxford, Mississippi; and Pensacola, Florida. Because of this, she talked with a southern accent until college.
And where did she end up going to college? Harvard. She thinks the admissions office was looking for “geographical diversity.” She also studied art history at Cambridge University on scholarship.
When Laura turned 40, she and her husband talked about taking a vacation, but she realized she’d rather finish her book Under the Egg. So instead of calling a travel agent, she called her clients and said she was taking two months off of work to finish her novel. Two months later, she had a polished manuscript. Two weeks after that, she had an agent. And after another two weeks her book was bought! It’s a good thing she didn’t take that vacation.
She was a contestant on the TV show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and won $64,000 dollars! All the useless facts running around in her head did amount to something.
Laura currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband, two kids, and probably a dog if the two kids keep nagging long enough.
Sources:
Author website
Author interview: One Four Kid Lit
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