• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

The Lawrence family (three children, one dog, one cat and two parents) has a crisis on its hands - too much laundry and no place to put it. Are the thirteen baskets they buy in the mysterious shop in the market the end of their problems? Or is it just the beginning of a grand and maybe dangerous adventure for Abigail, Jacob and Ernest? When the baskets become the gateway to another time, the children encounter mysteries which they must solve…before their parents disappear altogether.

Margie Rutledge was born in Midland, Texas. From there, she moved steadily north, first to Littleton, Colorado and then on to Calgary, Alberta. As a child, she loved to read, particularly in trees. Her favourite childhood books were the ”Little House“ series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, though as an adult she favours almost anything written by E Nesbit. A. A. Milne is also a great favourite, as is C. S. Lewis. These influences help to explain the traditional fantasy feel of Margie’s first novel for young people, The Great Laundry Adventure, released by Napoleon in the fall of 1999. The sequel, The Busybody Buddha, was published in September 2002. Margie attended the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and graduated with a B.A. in English (Special). Later on she recieved an M. A. in Drama from the University of Toronto. After careers as as a newspaper reporter, theatre dramaturge, and a book-store clerk, she currently teaches English as a Second Language part-time and has a thriving writing career, focusing on fiction, freelance journalism and agitprop theatre. Her recent journalism has appeared in The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The National Post, Mothering Magazine and Books in Canada. Margie lives in Toronto.

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