Gumdrop City is a True Crime short story that has been fictionalized, mostly the story about the protagonist. More or less how the end scene comes to be, is true, although in reality the police were involved. The "room" is true though the rest of the house was fictionalized. This is one of my cover artist's favorite of all of my stories. This story is also included in, Anthology of Evil.

Now you see her, now you don't... She does headstands, she does cartwheels, she can even do a split! Lizzie Benson gives such an amazing performance in a River Heights talent show that she wins a shopping spree at Tremendous Toys. But is Lizzie for real? She looks an awful lot like the actress in a very old movie poster whose name was Elizabeth Benson. And Lizzie says she lives at 10 Tide Street -- a haunted house. Nancy's friends are convinced that Lizzie is a ghost. Nancy says she'll prove them wrong -- but does she have a ghost of a chance?

“A Gumdrop Tale” tells the story of a utopian society who live atop a peculiar mountain. The people listen to each other, help each other, and work together to live in peace and harmony. Until an unusual stranger arrives sowing seeds of negativity and doubt, and one by one the people of Sugar Mountain turn against each other. As their utopia crumbles, heavy rain falls. With their home now in danger the people must find a way to save Sugar Mountain, and their dream of a happy, peaceful society. Written for Readers aged 7 years and above, “A Gumdrop Tale” encourages learning, conversation, and sparks imagination with themes such as unity, awareness, acceptance, and resolving conflict. The secret of this book is the deeper you read, the more meaning you will uncover.

When her father gives her a bag of colorful, sugary gumdrops to eat, a little girl decides to plant them instead.

It is a happy day for everyone when Grandma Joyce decides to take nine of her grandchildren to the park for a picnic. As Grandma Joyce packs up the picnic basket with sandwiches, juice boxes, and her special cookies, everyone is so excited! But little do they know that they are about to have a memorable and mysterious adventure like no other. After they eat their lunch under a big, beautiful tree, some of the grandchildren go to the playground while Grandma Joyce takes Khloe on a walk. But after they come upon on a row of bushes that suddenly move, Grandma Joyce and Khloe stumble upon a spectacular secret passageway that leads to a mountain made of gumdrops! After Grandma Joyce gathers the rest of the grandkids and Grandpa Johnny, they all embark on a magical adventure where rocks are made of bubble gum, swing sets are made of candy sticks, and little gingerbread men welcome them. Gumdrop Mountain is the delightful childrens tale of a grandmother, grandfather, and their beloved grandchildren as they enjoy a fun day in a yummy land where everything is made of candy and cookies.

During the early 1930's through the 1970's, it was tradition in the Southern Appalachian Mountains for families to find a thorn bush when they went into the mountains to cut their Christmas tree. They would decorate the sharp spires with colorful gumdrops for the children to enjoy. THE GUMDROP TREE is the story of a young girl who wanted to find the tallest, fattest, most beautiful Christmas tree of anyone in her town. It had to be very special. In this tale, Susie takes a long time to pick out the perfect tree for her family. After the tree stands in the corner with its shinny decorations, her mother sends her next door with a food basket for an elderly neighbor. Susie is very reluctant to leave her beautiful tree. Upon arriving at the neighbor's house, Susie discovers the scraggly branch that that Miss Martha calls her Christmas tree. On her way home, she tries to figure out what she can do so that the elderly lady can have a colorful tree. THE GUMDROP TREE is written for children from the age of 4 to 13. It teaches that sometimes it does not take the tallest, fattest, most beautifully decorated Christmas tree to be special.

How do rocks change shape? Why does Venus rotate "backwards"? How do tigers talk with their tails? Do bigger ears hear better? Discover the answers to these and many other weird and wildmysteries in astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth science, andphysics. Janice VanCleave's 204 Sticky, Gloppy, Wacky, andWonderful Experiments gives you hours and hours of hands-on,low-cost scientific fun. Try these safe, easy-to-do experiments athome or in the classroom: construct a lunar calendar to examine thephases of the moon, observe the feeding of ants to find out howthey communicate, and build a model of Galileo's thermoscope tomeasure how different materials change temperature. With so manyamazing projects to choose from, you'll have a blast learning aboutthe world around you.