Thunder roars in the cloudy skies over El Monte, Southern California, during October of 1955, as friendship, fun, fall leaves, and mystery fill the pages of Ferocious Fall: Our Wild Weather Escapes, the third volume in a four book series, The 1950s Adventures of Pete and Carol Ann. Join two eleven-year-old, All-American kids, Pete and Carol Ann, and a beagle puppy, as they scramble from one weather-filled adventure to another. Can they find shelter from a crazy cloudburst, outrun a dust devil, and escape a flash flood? Follow these best friends as Hawk's Ride drives them "flat out" on route 66 to pick apples in Oak Glen, as they go with Uncle Charlie on a hike to Sturtevant Falls, and as they spend a day enjoying the rides at Knott's Berry Farm where the sheriff handles bullies. The kids have it "made in the shade" at the California Alligator Farm until a feeding frenzy in the crocodilian pit causes them to "split" the "scene" with a "see you later, alligator." Back at home, the teenagers next door "hop up" their hot rods to rock 'in' roll tunes that swirl through the neighborhood while El Monte experiences an all-out crime-spree. The kids learn to make wise decisions when dealing with "bad news" bullies and wild weather. Readers eight and up will be thrilled by this fast-paced, historical-fiction chapter book.
The author spent her grammar school years during the 1950s at Cherrylee School in El Monte, Southern California, home of American Legion Stadium where rock 'n' roll and "hopped up" hot rods thrived and multiplied. She's the owner of Hawk's Ride, a 1937 Ford Slantback hot rod with a chopped-top and painted flames. Hartnell is a board member of Big Hearts for Little Hearts Loma Linda Guild at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital in Loma Linda, California, and has authored six activity books for them. She's written articles for the Guild's newsletter and the hospital's in-house newspaper, TODAY. Author Hartnell belongs to four writer's organizations: SCBWI-Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, IBPA-Independent Book Publishers Association, ACWA-American Christian Writers Association, and Writer's Institute, Inc. She lives with her husband in the Southwest United States and has four grown children who have blessed her with twelve grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Like wow! Hartnell desires to entertain plus encourage readers of all ages, Autumn appreciators, and Baby Boomers who will purchase this book for their children and grandchildren.
