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Tony Abbott

When two sixth-grade friends magically enter classic literary books, their fun-filled adventures are “a treat for reluctant readers” (School Library Journal).
 
 They just didn’t want to read the books! Instead, through their school library’s magic security gates, sixth graders Devin and Frankie—short for Francine—are zapped into great works of literature and new worlds of adventure, including Dracula, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Around the World in Eighty Days, A Christmas Carol, Treasure Island, and Romeo and Juliet. “The message that reading is important and can be fun comes through loud and clear” (School Library Journal).
 
Trapped in Transylvania: Transported into Bram Stoker’s vampire classic, the sarcastic sixth graders will need a few stakes, a lot of garlic, and a sharp sense of humor to defeat the bloodthirsty Count Dracula.
 
Mississippi River Blues: These modern middle schoolers learn being a troublemaker is timeless, as they whitewash a fence, run away from home, solve a murder, become pirates, and search for hidden treasure along with Tom and Huck, the original slackers.
 
What a Trip!: When you can travel into books, going around the world is easy. In the company of mad explorer Phileas Fogg, Devin and Frankie embark on a round-the-world journey by train, ship, and hot air balloon.
 
Humbug Holiday: For two sixth graders who feel about school the way Scrooge feels about Christmas, an enchanted trip into Charles Dickens’s tale is just what their spirits need.
 
X Marks the Spot: Devin and Frankie become marooned middle schoolers when they are swept away to Treasure Island and must match wits with legendary pirate Long John Silver.
 
Crushing on a Capulet: Devin and Frankie try to save star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet when they find themselves in Shakespeare’s classic play.

Open Road Media Teen & Tween

Cracked Classics

Cracked Classics: Six Books in One

Two reluctant readers and mischievous middle schoolers get transported into Bram Stoker’s vampire classic in this “lighthearted spoof” (Publishers Weekly).
 
 Devin and Frankie—short for Francine—may be the best of friends, but they aren’t the best of students. After they’re busted for not reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula, their teacher sends them to the library to make amends by mending books. When they accidentally toss an ancient copy of the horror classic through the library’s broken metal detector, a huge crack opens in the wall—and sucks Devin and Frankie right into the novel itself. Now these sarcastic sixth graders will need a few stakes, a lot of garlic, and a sharp sense of humor to defeat the bloodthirsty count.
 
 In this first book in Tony Abbott’s Cracked Classics series, “Devin and Frankie are wisecracking underachievers and their characterizations and dialogue ring true. Abbott adroitly blends the language in Stoker’s tale with their conversations, resulting in laugh-out-loud scenes” (School Library Journal).

Trapped in Transylvania: (Dracula)

Two sixth graders are magically swept away to Treasure Island, where they must match wits with legendary pirate Long John Silver.
 
 When best friends Devin and Frankie—short for Francine—get a tough assignment in their English class, they know there’s only one way to handle it. Read the book? Nah, that’s for suckers. Devin and Frankie just take the novel to the library and toss it through the magic metal detector, which sucks them into the world of the book, allowing them to experience the novel firsthand. Most of the time, this works great. This time, they get marooned on Treasure Island.
 
 The moment they step into Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic pirate novel, Devin and Frankie find themselves neck deep in a hunt for buried treasure along with Long John Silver and his gang of cutthroats. These two wisecracking slackers will need to avoid rocking the boat—or they may have to walk the plank.
 
School Library Journal has called the Devin and Frankie novels “reminiscent of Mary Pope Osborne’s ‘Magic Tree House’ series, but for an older audience.” X Marks the Spot is another lively introduction to the classics for reluctant readers.

X Marks the Spot: (Treasure Island)

“This affectionate if somewhat irreverent homage would probably win a chuckle from Twain himself” as pals tumble into Tom Sawyer (School Library Journal).
 
 Sixth graders Devin and Frankie—short for Francine—are the greatest goof-offs in the history of their school. When their teacher tells them to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, they skip it. When there’s a surprise test on the novel, they hide. But when they accidentally drop the school’s prized Mark Twain autograph through the library’s magic metal detector, they find themselves transported to the world of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.
 
 Soon these modern middle schoolers learn that being a troublemaker is timeless, as they whitewash a fence, run away from home, solve a murder mystery, become pirates, and search for hidden treasure along with Tom and Huck, the original slackers.
 
 “Reminiscent of Mary Pope Osborne’s ‘Magic Tree House’ series, but for an older audience,” the second book in Tony Abbott’s Cracked Classics series is a perfect introduction to Mark Twain for reluctant readers (School Library Journal).

Mississippi River Blues: (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)

For two sixth graders who feel about school the way Scrooge feels about Christmas, a magical trip into Dickens’s tale is just what their spirits need.
 
 It’s Christmastime at Palmdale Middle School, and the sixth grade class has organized a holiday banquet for local families in need. Best friends Devin and Frankie—short for Francine—are excited to eat, but they forgot to bring in food donations. They also didn’t read A Christmas Carol for Mr. Wexler’s English class. While the two fight over the school’s last copy, the library’s magic security gates suddenly transport them straight into Charles Dickens’s timeless tale, where they come face to face with grouchy Ebenezer Scrooge, who’s about to get a wake-up call from some ghosts on Christmas Eve.
 
 As the ghosts show the stingy Scrooge the consequences of all the selfish choices he’s made in life, Devin and Frankie come to realize that they too have a few things to learn about kindness and generosity.
 
 Reluctant readers “Devin and Frankie are wisecracking underachievers and their characterizations and dialogue ring true” in Tony Abbott’s Cracked Classics series (School Library Journal).

Humbug Holiday: (A Christmas Carol)

“A treat for reluctant readers,” as two sixth graders discover, when you can travel into books, going around the world is easy (School Library Journal). 
 
 Middle schoolers Devin and Frankie—short for Francine—have found a unique shortcut to passing English. When their teacher gives them a book to read, they just toss it through the magic metal detector in their school library, which transports them into the world of the novel, allowing them to live the book firsthand and always get an A. The system works great until the librarian hires a repairman to fix what the kids call the “zapper gates.” While trying to distract him, Devin and Frankie drop a book through the detector, and find themselves on a whirlwind tour of the globe in Jules Verne’s classic adventure.
 
 In the company of mad explorer Phileas Fogg, Devin and Frankie embark on a round-the-world journey by train, ship, and hot air balloon. But they’ll have to race to beat the clock, or risk getting stuck in the book forever.
 
 As with other books in Tony Abbott’s Cracked Classics series, “the message that reading is important and can be fun comes through loud and clear. The short chapters make this an ideal read-aloud and a treat for reluctant readers” (School Library Journal).

What a Trip!: (Around the World in Eighty Days)

Humbug Holiday - A Christmas Carol: (A Christmas Carol)

Sixth graders Devin and Frankie try to save star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet when they’re magically transported into Shakespeare’s classic play.
 
 When their teacher assigns Devin and Frankie—short for Francine—the lead roles in their class production of Romeo and Juliet, the two best friends aren’t thrilled. How are they supposed to say their lines when they don’t even sound like they were written in English?
 
 Luckily, the library’s magic security gates come to their rescue again, and they leap into Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. Unfortunately, they land right in the middle of a sword fight between two warring families, the Montagues and the Capulets.
 
 When they find out that Romeo Montague has fallen in love with Juliet Capulet, Devin and Frankie decide it’s up to them to make sure this unlikely couple lives happily ever after. But can they change the book’s tragic end and save the young lovers from their fate?
 
 “The message that reading is important and can be fun comes through loud and clear,” writes School Library Journal about the Cracked Classics series. “The short chapters make this an ideal read-aloud and a treat for reluctant readers.”

Cracked Classics - The book series

Cracked Classics - The book series

Cracked Classics books in order

Listen and read