Davina's Magical Radio

Davina Gonzales doesn't think she's anything special, even though her uncle is a world famous detective.  She and her friends Fabiola and DeBrina are like most seventh-grade girls in rural California, filling their time with babysitting, music, games, sports, tons of romance novels, and thoughts about cute boys..  But Davina’s life takes a strange twist when she gets an old radio for her twelfth birthday.  It runs without electricity or batteries.  It always plays her favorite songs.  And it warns her that if she doesn’t solve a mystery her best friend will die!  The radio gives out riddles and puzzles to help her solve the mystery.  Follow the three friends as they race against time to crack the clues and save DeBrina.

Davina's Magical Radio is available now from Amazon or Smashwords as an ebook (it's available at Barnes and Noble too but I don't have that link yet), and will be available in print from Amazon sometime in May.

Author's Comments:  I got the idea for Davina's Magical Radio a number of years ago when I was working as a behavior analyst on a school site in Salinas, California.  One day after work I was talking with a couple of the sixth-grade teachers about introducing problem-solving strategies to their students, and for some reason I got the idea of using a fictional story to share and demonstrate not only problem-solving, but teamwork, conflict-resolution, etc.  I sat down with students from the classes and asked them what they liked to read and who they liked to read about.  Almost unanimously they said they liked stories about crime and magic.  And they all also agreed they liked reading stories where girls where the main characters.  So, each day after work, with a little creativity and elbow-grease, I created the storyline for DMR.  I would write a few chapters and then hand them out to some of the students for feedback.  The idea caught on and I kept writing chapters and handing them out to the students.  Before the year was out Davina's Magical Radio was complete.