Something happened to Charlie when he was just eight years old. He went on a journey - and he's been trying to get back for over four hundred years! Crumbs! Charlie is about to be devoured by deadly dinosaurs. Will he and his piggy pals survive this deadly game of life and death? And will Charlie EVER get safely back home? EVIL GENIUSES, MECHANICAL MONSTERS, FOREST SPRITES ... No adventure is too BIG for Charlie Small!

Want to identify fiction books that boys in grades three through nine will find irresistible? This guide reveals dozens of worthwhile recommendations in categories ranging from adventure stories and sports novels to horror, humorous, and science fiction books. In Get Those Guys Reading!: Fiction and Series Books that Boys Will Love, authors Kathleen A. Baxter and Marcia A. Kochel provide compelling and current reading suggestions for younger boys—information that educators, librarians, and parents alike are desperate for. Comprising titles that are almost all well-reviewed in at least one major professional journal, or that are such big hits with kids that they've received the "stamp of approval" from the most important reviewers, this book will be invaluable to anyone whose goal is to help boys develop a healthy enthusiasm for reading. It includes chapters on adventure books; animal stories; graphic novels; historical fiction; humorous books; mystery, horror, and suspense titles; science fiction and fantasy; and sports novels. Within each chapter, the selections are further divided into books for younger readers (grades 3–6) and titles for older boys in grades 5–8. Elementary and middle school librarians and teachers, public librarians, Title One teachers, and parents of boys in grades 3–9 will all benefit greatly from having this book at hand.

In the fifth journal found by us, the lucky and smug publisher, we learn that Charlie Small has become embroiled in an underworld from his nightmares . . . Previously, Charlie had bumped into the infamous Jakeman -- but when the mad professor was dragged down into the Underworld, Charlie had to follow - otherwise, how would he discover how to get back to his mum and dad? This latest adventure takes him into an unreal darkened world, where anything is possible. But will Charlie Small ever find a way out, or will he be trapped underground forever . . . ?

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AS: THE DAREDEVIL DESPERADOS OF DESTINY This fourth volume of Charlie Small's journal was found by one of our editors propped behind a bottle at the back of a dusty bar in the valley where Charlie was last seen, and it's full of more adventures than ever! Having escaped the clutches of the evil Puppet Master, Charlie joins The Daredevil Desperados of Destiny, whose sole aim is to get rid of the outrageous outlaw, Horatio Ham. Charlie, aka The Lariat Kid, brings down Ham's posse of gunslingers, takes part in a daring bank raid, is caught up in a ferocious gunfight, lands up in jail, and is about to be sacrificed to The Great Bird of Death. Can Charlie possibly escape?

Prepare to be utterly amazed by the latest instalment of Charlie Small's incredible yet 100% true adventures. On his way to Jakeman's factory, Charlie is grabbed by Tristram Twitch, who sends him off on three dangerous errands. Charlie must find a pearl from the giant oyster beds of the Pangaean Ocean, a diamond-encrusted tiara from a mummified corpse, and a gold quill from the back of the extremely rare golden porcupine of Mayapazan. AND he has to befriend his old enemy, Thrak the gorilla along the way! If he doesn't succeed, Jakeman will be fed to a man-eating barracuda - and Charlie will NEVER get back home...!

At the end of his fifth journal, Charlie Small rocketed out of the strange and dark Underworld, over desert sands and a snowy white mountain range. With a table cloth over his head and a cushion strapped round his bottom, Charlie parachuted right into the middle of a small, swampy island. Clutching a mainly blank map that's supposed to help him find the infamous Jakeman, he sets off for the next island, only to find himself face to face with a slimy, stinking, roaring swamp monster . . . Will Charlie manage to slip through its gloopy claws?