Audacity Jones pines for adventure, something to break up the monotony of her days at Miss Maisie's School for Wayward Girls. Being a Wayward Girl isn't so awful -- even if Audie is condemned to the Punishment Room almost daily. Audie has the dearest of friends at the School, as well as a terribly clever feline companion named Miniver and plenty of books to read there. Still, she longs for an escapade to rival those of the characters in the swashbuckling novels she so adores.
But when the mysterious Commodore Crutchfield visits the school and whisks Audie off to Washington, DC, she knows she's in for the journey of a lifetime. Soon, though, it becomes clear that someone has unsavory plans for Audie -- plans that involve the President of the United States and a very sinister plot. Can Audie save the day before it's too late?
From Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson comes a rollicking adventure starring a plucky and charming orphan readers won't soon forget.
Kirby Larson
Kirby Larson is the acclaimed author of the 2007 Newbery Honor Book
Hattie Big Sky; its sequel,
Hattie Ever After;
The Friendship Doll;
Dear America: The Fences Between Us;
Duke;
Dash, winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction;
Liberty;
Code Word Courage;
Audacity Jones to the Rescue; and its sequel,
Audacity Jones Steals the Show. She has also cowritten the award-winning picture books
Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival and
Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine, and a Miracle. She lives in Washington with her husband and Winston the Wonder Dog.
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- From Audacity Jones
"I suppose you know why you are here?" The bird
woman squawked the question.
Audie glanced at the Commodore. She didn't want
to answer incorrectly.
"I thought it best to keep her in the dark." The
Commodore shifted on his chair.
After a brief pause, the woman nodded. "Yes,
of course. The less she knows --" she let the thought hang in the air, unfinished.
Audie's
imagination couldn't help but finish. The less she knows, the safer she is? Is that
what was implied? Audie swiped damp palms on her new wool coat, inhaling deeply
to steady her nerves.
"We have an exceedingly important job to do. Tomorrow.
At the White House." The woman stared down her beak at Audie, her hot gaze warming
Audie right through to her backbone.
The White House! That silly game she'd
played with Beatrice hadn't been too far off the mark after all. The White House.
What would the Wayward Girls say to that? Audie sat a little taller, shoulders back,
pride puffing out her chest. Think of it! An orphan like her, coming to the aid
of the president of the United States.
"It's an honor." Audie couldn't help
but wonder what sort of assistance the president might require of her. Though there
could not be another man in America with more on his mind than poor President Taft,
it would hardly do for Audie to offer him a bedtime song such as those she had sung
to soothe the triplets. She struggled to imagine what other help a president could
demand of an orphan. Nothing came to mind. But nevertheless. The president needed
her. And she was not about to let him down. By the time her thoughts cycled through
all the possibilities, she was so full of patriotic fervor and passion she nearly
saluted Miss Beaknose. "I'll do whatever you need."
The woman nodded curtly.
"We haven't much time. Listen closely."
