February 2016

"Will we make it to the ceremony on time?" Gabby asked as the bookmobile glided around a long curve to enter the New Jersey Turnpike. "We should," Mr. C responded. "As long as everything goes smoothly." "Smoothly?!" Jamal shook his head. "Nothing's gone smoothly for us so far. Why would this drive be any different?" "Jamal's right," Maya said. She read more

"No need to worry, Trackers," Mr. C said reassuringly. "We'll just…." Just then the bookmobile shook side to side as the dark cloud swooped over it and raced ahead. The sky was a gray-purple color above and ahead of them and a deep rumble of thunder could be heard over the sound of the engine. "Unbelievable," Simon whispered. "One second read more

"I know him," Maya broke in, "he was a great singer and an actor. He appeared on Broadway." "And he fought for the civil rights of minority groups, too," Gabby pointed out. "He was a great football player, too," Cooper added. "But he never gave up even though the odds were against him. And neither did Albert Schatz," Mr. C read more

"Yep!" He patted his pocket when there was a loud, snarling sound of thunder and a strong gust of wind blew across the lawn. A policeman came out of Old Queens and announced through a megaphone that a storm was about to hit and that the ceremony would be delayed until the worst of it had passed. He suggested that read more

The group hurried out with Mr. C clutching the map. "Do you think the Jersey Devil left it?" he wondered. "And why?" The rain stopped then and a few people began to emerge from the sheltering buildings. The lawn, however, was still empty and they reached the area marked on the map quickly and searched the grass for some sort read more

The Jersey Trackers were being celebrated at the Rutgers University 250th Anniversary for finding the Imagination Tree seeds. Everyone cheered as Mr. C and the Jersey Trackers helped plant the two seeds. But there was another planting ceremony taking place deep in the Pine Barrens. At this ceremony there were no marching bands or festive banners or cheering crowds. No, read more

Authors and Illustrators for The Jersey Trackers and the Imagination Tree Mystery The New Jersey Center for the Book is extremely grateful to our New Jersey authors and illustrators who have generously contributed their work to this e-book. Their websites and those of the New Jersey landmarks noted in each chapter are listed below. Banner/Heading Illustration by Gerald Kelley Chapter 1 read more

The New Jersey Center for the Book represented the state of New Jersey at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C sponsored by the Library of Congress on September 5, 2015. More than 175 authors from around the country and thousands of visitors flocked to the Washington Convention Center for the 15th anniversary celebration of the festival with the theme read more