Charles Stratton, A troubled and angry ten-year-old, is sent from his third-story room overlooking the crashing Atlantic Ocean to a boys’ school in France—against his consent. He is met by the Headmistress, Madam Constance, and a driver. Several hours outside of Paris, they turn into the driveway of the school. The Chateau Du Mont is surrounded by a tall stone wall, topped by rolls of barbed wire. He had to escape! Charles jumps out of the slow-moving car and runs towards a wooded area. The driver follows, scoops him up, and throws him in the back seat of the car. They pass through a tall iron gate. The gate is locked behind them. Charles is trapped. He is shown to his room on the third floor. More bad news, he is absolutely not, not going to have a roommate. Charles gets out his journal and makes plans to escape. But his plans are delayed due to the mystery of the Ghost of the Jangling Keys on the fourth floor, a treasure, and an ancient journal that Charles can’t read, a black cat, a mathematical genius, the gift and a story from a Bedouin prince, a $500 check from “Ghost Story Magazine,” and the promise of a trip to Egypt, Charles’s favorite country in the entire world.

The Ghost of the Jangling Keys has been called the perfect coming-of-age story. In it, an angry boy who considers himself