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Rebel Diamonds - Phineas in Sierra Leone

by Elizabeth Anne Chapin-Pinotti

94 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-0600; ISBN 1-4120-0231-1; US$14.50, C$16.00, EUR12.00, £8.50

Phineas J. Clooney gets the surprise of a lifetime on her eleventh birthday - her candy making Grandfather is actually a spy for the US Government and he wants Phineas and her friends to join him for a trip to a Sierra Leone diamond mine to rescue a young girl. The surprises keep coming when Phineas learns she can modem herself to Africa and back again.

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about the book      about the author      excerpt      catalogue info

About the Book Phineas is bummed. It's her twelfth birthday, and, for the first time in her life, Grandpa Clooney can't make it. He did, however, send a mysterious box with explicit instructions NOT to open it until her two best friends are present. Phineas calls, fellow Explorers, Jeff and Katie and together they unwrap the technological magic of the transmodulation device -- a handheld computer with the ability to modulate (or transport) the children to around the globe. Phineas discovers that her candy-making Grandfather is actually a spy for the US Government and he wants Phineas and her friends to join him for a trip to a Sierra Leone diamond mine to rescue a young girl. The surprises keep coming when Phineas learns she can modem herself to Africa and back again. The only problem is - the handheld computer the modem is attached to gets stolen and Phineas and her friends find themselves stranded -- in a rebel occupied country in Africa. The adventure begins as these young explorers set out to save the world - one child at a time. Their goal - to assemble a team of children from every country, culture and/or tribe in the world -- and form a coalition to help bring understanding, tolerance and peace to the world.

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About the Author Elizabeth Chapin-Pinotti is a middle school math teacher who resides in California with her husband and two stepdaughters. With a MS in Psychology and an MS in Educational Technology she spends much of her spare time developing curriculum and software to aid challenged students. She plans to open a learning center in late 2003 -- but will not give up teaching. Elizabeth also enjoys gold, swimming and relaxing with bother her immediate and extended families.

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Excerpts

This village is made up of thin board boxroom- houses and lean-tos -- like the ones we saw when we studied Native Americans only the Native Americans' looked much sturdier. Nothing is straight either -- the walls I mean. Even what looks like a deserted gas station out of a 1930's movie is tilted.
There aren't very many people hanging around either. The only one I really notice is a boy about my age. If he lived in Eastwood I bet he would be in my class. Only he'd have to lose the gun he is carrying. They frown on that sort of thing. No lie. A kid my age is lugging around a gun. He is dressed in jeans and a black or dark blue t-shirt that has the arms torn out and he is carrying a big gun. Not ordinary big but huge big. I'm no gun expert by my guess is that that thing can do some damage.
Suddenly, those shadows are over Sierra Leone again. Suddenly, their trees and ground and grass don't look like they do at home anymore. Suddenly, the thick air makes it hard to breathe. To quote Dorothy... "we are definitely NOT in Kansas anymore"...we're not even on the same planet as Kansas anymore. I look at Jeff and then at Katie. Both seem to be staring at the same kid - or maybe his gun. Then it hits me. If we can see him so clearly - he can see us. And he does. Before I even know what is happening - like fast motion and slow motion all at the same time - we are surrounded by an odd mixture of men and boys - none of whom look all that happy to see us. Some are dressed like the first kid, some in army clothes - but all are accessorized with big guns.
I can't breath. I can't think. Katie and Jeff both grab onto me and just as I am about to hit Sam, the transmodulator, the original kid reaches up and yanks it off of my belt. The others grab our backpacks and then our arms. Our chance of survival vanishes with the transmodulator.
I am being dragged by this group of men towards the village.
"What is in the bags?"
"Wait until we get them inside."
"What are you doing here?"
"Who are you?"
Their words float through my mind but my voice will not work. They are speaking English but I barely understand them. Not because they are talking funny but because there is a humming in my ears that's getting louder by the second. I have never been so afraid in all of my life and if they do not kill me I promise never to do anything bad ever again! The kid carrying Sam, the transmodulator, is carelessly tossing it into the air.
If only I can break free and grab it. I could push the blue bottom and the remote red one and we'd be safe.

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Catalogue Information

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