A Case For You And TheA Case For You And The

Case 1

A detective story by

With illustrations by

THOMAS C. BREZINA

© 2008 SchneiderBuchverlegt durch EGMONT Verlagsgesellschaften mbH,Gertrudenstraße 30–36, 50667 KölnAlle Rechte vorbehaltenTitelbild und Illustrationen: Naomi Fearn, Seite 144–150: Lorna EganLektorat: Theo ButzUmschlaggestaltung: hilden_design, München/www.hildendesign.deDruck und Bindung: CPI – Ebner & Spiegel, UlmISBN 978-3-505-12480-8 09

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A SHRUNKEN HEAD AND OTHER SURPRISES

“The next item up for auction is item 37, a shrunken head from central Africa. Starting price: ten euros. Any bids?” announced the man in the dark suit from behind a tall lectern.

“This auction is mega cool!” exclaimed Biggi enthusiastically. Her Tiger-Team friends Luk and Patrick thought so too.

The three friends found themselves in a small, rather crooked house in which Samuel Boller had lived until just recently. He had been a captain and had traveled the seas for over fifty years. He had acquired numer-ous things along the way and had collected them: from shrunken heads from Africa to an Eskimo’s necklace made of polar bears’ teeth.

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The captain had died three months previ-ously. In his will he had stated that all his belongings should be auctioned off. The money made from the sale should go towards the nature conservation organization “Save the Whale.”

“Any bids above twenty euros?“ asked the man as he surveyed the audience.

“Going once, going twice, going three times!”

The small hammer slammed down.“Sold to the lady in the blue hat!“

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“So cool! You just raise your hand and for a few second you can be the owner of a stuffed shark or a pair of binoculars that Columbus has supposedly looked through!” said Patrick.

“So that takes us to the next item!” announced the auctioneer. “Starting price: five euros. Any better offers?”

Patrick raised his hand. “Six euros to the young man in the dark T-shirt,” the man exclaimed.

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Luk also raised his hand. “Seven euros from the boy sitting next to him!”

Whatever her colleagues could do, Biggi could do as well. So she too raised her hand and in the same instance the price went up to eight euros.

“So, now we can leave the other people to continue bidding!” whispered Biggi to her friends, giggling.

“Any bidders offering more than eight euros?” asked the man in the dark suit. The Tiger-Team looked around but no one raised a hand.

“Going once, going twice, going three times. Sold to the girl with the blonde hair!” announced the auctioneer.

Biggi gulped. “Erm... I didn’t really want it,“ she mumbled. She hastily rooted around in her pocket. She only had five euros on her! “Don’t panic, we’ve got the remaining three,” Patrick and Luk reassured her.

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Biggi breathed a sigh of relief. How embar-rassing it would have been had she been unable to pay.

“Erm... what have we actually bought?” she asked her friends.

If you don’t know, place down the decoder.

What has the Tiger-Team successfully bid for?

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WHAT USE ARE SMITHEREENS?

The Tiger-Team paid and collected what they had successfully bid for.

“Erm.... so what are we supposed to do with it?” asked Luk. He would have pre-ferred something technical.

“These things smell so appalling, we wouldn’t be able to give them away,” exclaimed Patrick and he screwed up his nose.

“Perhaps they’re hollow. We could put lit-tle candles inside them and use them as lan-terns,“ suggested Biggi.

“Yes, but only if we throw a horror-themed party!” laughed Luk.

Seeing as no one else was willing to carry the things, Biggi did so and muttered, “Oh man! Are you afraid they’ll bite you or some-thing? They’ve been preserved. Typical boys. Good for nothing!”

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Patrick took a deep breath and snapped back: “Hold on a minute, superwoman! You bought the things, not us! Well, didn’t you?”

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The Tiger-Team was standing directly in front of the main entrance through which a small, rather scatty-looking man was cur-rently making his way. He barged past Biggi, knocking the seven puffer fish straight out of her arms onto the floor. There was a clatter as the fish smashed into smithereens as though they were made of glass.

Biggi was about to get angry when she sud-denly noticed something. “Hey, look at that!” she exclaimed excitedly.

Inside each of the puffer fish there was a rolled up piece of paper. Each piece looked old and rather yellowed. Each was bound with red binding and sealed with enamel. The Tiger-Team quickly picked up the seven little rolls. Luk opened one of them and flattened the parchment out. He whistled, wide-eyed. “Guys, it’s a treasure map!” he exclaimed.

He had barely spoken when the

scatty-looking little man pushed his way through. His face was wide as though some-one had taken him by his ears and pulled in opposite directions. He had a pointed nose and a strained look about his jaw.

“I’ll give you a hundred euros for them!” he said.

The Tiger-Team couldn’t believe their ears. “R…r…really?” stammered Patrick.The man nodded enthusiastically.But Biggi held the rolls close to her chest.

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“No, they’re not for sale!” she said. “Two hundred euros… three hundred

euros… four hundred euros!” said the man, increasing his offer.

Luk and Patrick were already starting to plan would they would do with all that money.

“No,” whispered Biggi to the other tigers. “If the guy wants them so badly then they must be special. We’re not giving them away!”

The boys had understood. “No, sorry. No deal!” said Luk abruptly. The tigers turned on their heel and walked off quickly.

In all the excitement they failed to notice how the little man angrily watched after them as. And neither did they notice the other two men who were close on their heels.

Biggi, Luk and Patrick jumped onto their bicycles and pedaled to their secret hideout. It was located beneath the Chinese restau-rant “To The Golden Tiger,” and the secret

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entrance was hidden behind a tall wooden statue. Apart from them, no one else knew that you had to press the tiger’s long fangs in order to open the hidden door.

The three of them slipped inside and closed the door behind them. Some distance away a car parked up and the driver looked up and down the street. He was unable to explain how the three tigers could just vanish like that.

Inside their hideout the Tiger-Team imme-diately opened up the rolls and spread the seven pieces of parchment out on the table. Each piece of parchment pictured an identi-cal island, with a large building at its center above which was written “The Temple of Thunder”. However each drawing showed a different route leading from the shore to the temple.

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Luk studied the pages thoughtfully. „Can anyone explain to me what that’s supposed to mean?“ he said.

Biggi had an idea. “Perhaps it’s a trick. Only one of the routes is correct and the others all lead to some sort of trap. If the maps get stolen for example, then the thief first has to find out which one is the real one. If he doesn’t manage to, then instead of ending up at the temple, he lands in a ravine for example.

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“And if your suspicion is right, Biggi, then which map is the right one?” asked Patrick.

“We’ll soon find out,” boasted Luk and Biggi. They shoved Patrick aside in order to see the map.

But Patrick refused to be pushed aside. He was intent on showing his friends that he’d not dropped one of his bar-bells on his head. It annoyed him how they always said that when he failed to understand something.

He glanced over their shoulders and then pointed a finger at one of the maps.

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“That one is the real one. That’s the only one that will get you to The Temple of Thunder. I can even prove it!” he announced.

Biggi and Luk looked up at him, surprised.

Which map did Patrick point at?

Position the decoder.

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MORE PUZZLING AND EVEN MORE EXCITING

“It’s all getting more and more puzzling and even more exciting!” exclaimed Biggi. “Do you think there is treasure hidden inside this Temple of Thunder?” Luk and Patrick nod-ded. “Perhaps Captain Boller hid it there. Or the maps were drawn by a pirate and the Captain found them in a shop at the harbor and bought them?” suggested Luk.

“Perhaps he wasn’t even aware that they were hidden inside the puffer fish!” coun-tered Patrick.

Another thought came to Biggi: “But where is this island with the Temple of Thunder? Any ideas?”

The boys all shook their heads. Luk took his mini computer and using a special pen, he drew the outline of the island on the touch-sensitive screen.

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The lines immediately appeared. The com-puter notebook was a brilliant device. Luk instructed it to find out which island was on the maps. But after a minute, the computer announced: “Unfortunately, no results!”

Disappointed, the three tigers sighed.

“Guys, I’ve got to be getting home to do my maths homework!” said Biggi.

Patrick had training, so that left Luk alone in the hideout. He decided to examine the

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treasure map in greater detail. He had set up a mini laboratory for such a purpose where he could do various tests. Luk set to work right away.

Two hours later and Biggi had finally fin-ished her homework when the doorbell rang.

“Biggi darling, can you get that? I’m just drying my hair!” her mother called from the bathroom.

Biggi pulled a face, frustrated. She hated being called “darling”. All her friends knew that, it was just her mum who chose to ignore it. Muttering under her breath, Biggi ran down the stairs to the ground floor.

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She opened the door, and leapt back. In front of her was the strangest sight. It was a woman in dark sunglasses. On her head she wore a tall felt hat without a brim. Around her shoulders she wore a black cape. She was also wearing black gloves and on top of them she wore rings with stones that sparkled oddly.

The woman pointed her finger at Biggi and hissed: “Girl, I have to warn you! I have seen

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dreadful things in the stars. You purchased your downfall this afternoon. Your downfall! There is only one way you can save yourself. Get rid of it as soon as you can. Give it away, sell it, but don’t throw it away. Otherwise it will remain a curse. Take my advice, girl, or terrible misfortune will come your way. Believe me, the stars have never lied to me yet!”

The woman raised her arms up high and looked up at the sky. Biggi was so shocked that she simply slammed the door shut. She quickly opened it again but the woman had gone. Biggi looked up and down the street but her strange visitor was nowhere to be seen. She seemed literally to have vanished into thin air.

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Biggi realized that she had broken out into a sweat. With trembling fingers she lifted the receiver and dialed Luk’s mobile number. Luk had been given his own mobile phone by his grandfather for his last birthday. And the coolest thing was that his grandfather also paid the bill! Although he wasn’t allowed to make too many calls.

In the meantime, Luk had studied the old parchment really thoroughly. He had repeat-edly traced his finger over its surface and had discovered that at various points it felt differ-ent – rougher and almost sticky. He had dis-covered that the map had been drawn with ink. When Luk had carefully warmed part of the map with a little iron he hadn’t noticed anything in particular. Pensively, he leafed through the pages of his books and suddenly he had an idea.

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The results of Luk’s examination are very revealing. Look

at pages 145 and 147.

„I’m quite sure that there’s a message hid-den somewhere on this map. But it’s been written in invisible writing and I think I know how to make it visible...“

What sort of “invisible” writing are we talking about and how can it

be made visible?

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THE HUNT FOR THE TREASURE MAP

Luk’s mobile phone rang just as he was start-ing to reveal the writing on the map. It was working! The map was revealing further clues.

Luk’s mobile rang persistently. “What is it?” Luk snapped.

„Luk... someone... someone’s just been here … an astrologer who said that the map was going to be our downfall!” stuttered Biggi,

“What nonsense!” Luk shook his head.“But… why did she come to me?”Luk couldn’t answer that question.

“Perhaps it was just a coincidence. Perhaps the woman was just begging for some money,” he suggested.

But Biggi wasn’t so sure.“Hey, guess what! I’ve discovered a secret

message on the map!” reported Luk.

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Whilst the two tigers telephoned, Patrick was standing in the courtyard that belong-ing to the house he lived in with his parents. He was holding two heavy weights and was doing various exercises to strengthen his muscles. Although it was spring, it was still quite cold. But Patrick was determined to get some fresh air

Suddenly he noticed that he was being watched. Standing at the entrance to the courtyard was a tall, slender man dressed in an elegant grey suit. His hair was styled with lots of gel and he had a thin moustache. The man approached and nodded at Patrick. “Good day, young man!” he said. Patrick greeted him too.

“Let’s get to the point. I want to do a deal with you.”

Patrick couldn’t believe his ears.“Your friends are somewhat stubborn and

inept, which is why I prefer to speak to you. If you can get me the genuine map from the puffer fish then I’ll sort you out with a com-plete set of equipment for your own personal gym.”

“W… w… what?” stuttered Patrick.

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“You heard me. Then you’ll no longer need to train with those pathetic weights. You’ll have you’re very own set of equipment if you give me the map,” promised the man.

“Who are you?” Patrick asked, taken aback.“That’s not relevant. I’ll be back this even-

ing at ten. If you’ve got the map then I’ll give you five thousand euros for it.”

Without saying goodbye, the man turned and quickly walked away.

Once Patrick had recovered from the initial shock, he took his mobile out of his trouser pocket and called Luk.

Luk was in the hideout leafing through his ten-volume lexicon. He had found a clue on the map that indicated that the island with the Temple of Thunder was located next to another, larger island. But which island was it?

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Can you find out the name of the big island that is located next to

the island with the Temple of Thunder?

His mini computer wasn’t able to find out the name. Nor did Luk seem to have much luck finding it. Had he overlooked it?

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UTMOST CAUTION!

Luk sighed deeply. The island was a long way away. His parents had once spent a holiday there and it had taken them four hours to get there by plane. Of course the Tiger-Team were unable to afford such an expensive trip. Once again Luk’s mobile phone rang and this time it was Patrick who told him about the amazing offer he had been made.

“There must be something considerably valuable in this temple for there so be so many people after the map,” Luk comment-ed. What a damn shame that they had no possibility of continuing their investigations. It really was pitiable!

“There’s… there’s no way I’m going to be in the courtyard at ten,” said Patrick.

“Of course not! That man could be danger-ous!” replied Luk. “Whoever’s prepared to

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pay that much money won’t hesitate to just take the map!”

The boys agreed that the Tiger Team would meet the following day after school and Patrick promised to let Biggi know.

Luk now had something important to do. He needed to find a good hiding place for the map. Even if someone managed to break into their secret hideout, they should, under no circumstance, be able to find the map.

Luk pushed some of the books to one side of the shelf to reveal a grate, which he deftly removed. There was a wide ventilation shaft behind it, which supplied the Tiger’s secret hideout with fresh air.

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There was also a ladder in the shaft which Patrick, Luk and Biggi could climb up, giv-ing them access to the back entrance of the Chinese restaurant. This enabled them to leave unseen, should their hideout be under observation. Besides that there was also a loose tile. Luk tapped the wall in order to locate it. He pulled it out and placed the map in the small hole behind it. It was the perfect hiding place!

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Luk could at last set off home. He decided to climb up the ladder in the ventilation shaft and to leave via the restaurant. Better safe than sorry.

It was already dark out on the street. Luk was about to hop on his bike when he made an unpleasant discovery. The air had been let out of both tyres on his bicycle. Cursing and muttering under his breath, Luk locked the bike back up and propped it up behind the building. He’d pump the tyres up tomorrow. It was too late to do it now and he was too tired.

He set off by foot feeling somewhat grumpy. It was a long walk home. And on top of that there was an icy north wind blowing through the streets, chilling him beneath his jacket. The winter still wasn’t over. Unfortunately!

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As he hurried along the street, he went back over the day’s events in his mind. Suddenly, Luk noticed that he was being fol-lowed. He stopped and pretended to look into a shop window. In the same moment the footsteps behind him ceased. As Luk con-tinued on his way, so did his pursuer! Luk started to feel afraid. Who was it? Who was following him? Luk stopped abruptly and quickly turned around. But there was no one to be seen! No sooner had he set off again, he heard the footsteps resume behind him. He quickly pulled a mirror out of the special bag that he always carried around with him. Luk used the mirror to try and get a glimpse over his shoulder, but he was unable to see who was following him. Whoever it was man-aged to quickly slip into entrances or behind parked cars.

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Suddenly his pursuer made a mistake. He himself remained hidden, but his shadow was visible on the wall of a building. Luk had his suspicions…

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Who is the pursuer?

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SECRET MESSAGES have helped you to locate the Temple of Thunder and to free Biggi. Here are a few ways of writing a secret message:

Invisible ink

TO WRITE: Use lemon juice as ink (alternatively you can use milk, vinegar or onion

juice). Use a paintbrush or a feather to write. When the juice has dried,

the message will vanish.

GRAN CANARIA IN BRIEF

Number of inhabitants: approx. 800,000

Capital: Las Palmas

Diameter: 45 km = a half hour journey by car on a fast road

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TO READ: Warm the piece of paper using a toaster or an iron.TIP: Hide the secret message between the lines of a letter so that it is less obvious.

Water-ink

Use a pencil to write with. Dip a dry piece of paper in water and press it against a windowpane or

the bathroom mirror. Lay a dry piece of paper on top of it and then write your message. When you have finished, remove the dry piece of paper. The message underneath is invisible!

TO READ: Simply immerse the paper in water again.

Salt-ink

TO WRITE: To make the ink dissolve a teaspoon of salt in a glass of water. Use a toothpick to write with.

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TO READ: Warm the message up. Place the piece of paper with the message on it on top of a radiator or in the oven heated to 50°C. You can also warm it using an iron or by carefully holding it over the hot plate.

Embossment

TO WRITE: Use a pencil to write your message on the top sheet of a notepad. Press quite hard so that the message leaves an indentation on the next page.TO READ: Holding your pencil at an angle, lightly shade in the page and the message will become visible.TIP: Don’t forget to throw away the page you have actu- ally written on so that no one is

able to read your message.

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READING CLUESFootprints inside the Temple of Thunder have helped put you on the right track. Use these pages to practice your new skills!

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Which shoe belongs to which footprint? Use the decoder to find out if your answer is correct.

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What is the significance of footprints that are very spaced out?

You can be relatively sure that whoever left the footprints was running. When you run, you take bigger steps.

What is the significance of particularly deep footprints?

Either the person who made them is very heavy or they were carrying something that was heavy.

Two more exercises:

How many people have been here?

What can you tell about the person who left these footprints?

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And now here’s a mystery for you to solve:

The Man in the Fog

Elisa von Zittewitz was playing with her lorgnon, a small pair of glasses on the end of a thin stick. These glasses are held in front of your eyes as opposed to being placed on your nose.

The Tiger-Team looked at the countess in antici-pation. She was a good friend of Biggi’s mother, Mrs. Borge, and had asked the three detectives to come and see her.

Countess Zittewitz lived in a small castle that housed a valuable collection of figurines that her grand father had collected from around the world. The figurines were highly valuable and the Countess had made part of the castle into a small museum so that visitors could come and see the dragons, demons, mythical creatures and goblins.

“You were keen to speak to us…” Luk began hesitantly.

The Countess nodded. “It’s about my brother Eduard.” She paused to point at an oil painting that was hanging on the wall behind her. It showed a boy and a girl. The boy was painting and the girl

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was playing the piano. She observed the painting for some time before continuing.

“That’s us as children,” she explained. “Eduard wanted to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and so he later left to travel the world. He never got

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on well with our parents and then one day a letter arrived to day that he wouldn’t be returning. He wanted to remain forever on a island in the south seas. That was forty-six years ago. We never heard from him again.”

Biggi nodded sympathetically. What a sad story! “I went on to inherit the castle and the art collec-

tion which I have managed ever since,” continued the Countess. “It belongs entirely to me, for besides Eduard, there were no other heirs.”

But something must have happened. You could tell by the sound of the Countess’s voice.

“A week ago, when there was terrible thick fog, there was a knock at castle door. I opened it and there stood a man who I had never seen before!” recounted the Countess. “It was Eduard, who has returned after all those years.”

The three tigers smiled. That was good news, wasn’t it?

The countess took a deep breath and then she said quietly, “But I feel more and more doubtful that he really is Eduard. There are so many things he doesn’t recall.”

“Well, it is a long time ago,” said Patrick.

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„I can’t get rid of the suspicion that he is just pretending to be Eduard, so as to get his hands on a share of the inheritance,“ whispered the Countess.

But how could it be proved? A person can change a lot in the space of forty-six years. He might forget things too.

“Is he here?” asked Luk.The Countess nodded.“Can we speak to him?”The Countess nodded again. She led the Tiger-

Team through the castle to a tall, dark door. She knocked and entered without waiting for a response.

Sat behind a massive desk was a darkly tanned man. He looked up in surprise as the tigers walked towards him.

“My brother Eduard,” introduced the Countess.Luk reached for his telephone and dialed a

number.“What are you doing?” interrupted the man.“I’m calling the police,” explained Luk, calmly.

“You’re an imposter and you’re most certainly not Eduard.”

“Lies! What cheek! That’s defamation!“ replied the man furiously. Sensing that his rage wasn’t

achieving anything, he decided to flee. He didn’t get far however, for Patrick stood in his way.

To thank them for their help, the Countess gave them a tiny tiger made of green stone. Luk put it in his special bag. From now on it would be the Tiger-Team’s lucky charm.

How did Luk know that the man wasn’t

Eduard?

“I see children as human beings with wishes, needs and demands of their own. I don’t want to lecture them nor do I want to raise them. I see my task rather in accom-panying them.

I don’t have easy solutions to offer but my stories are always about hope and they show that there is always a way. They also show how beautiful life is, without building up a fake ideal world.

Children need fairy tales, according to the child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim. The motto of my stories is: Reading should be an adventure. Interest in reading is decreasing; one reason for that is that children rarely find stories anymore which fas-cinate and inspire them. I fulfil this desire for adventure which many children have.

My characters take matters into their own hands and show how important it is to talk to each other, act together and to strive for sensible solutions. I am happy that those characters can serve as role models for my readers. Since children should feel enriched, courageous, strong and full of self-confidence through my stories.”

Thomas C. Brezina

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