Guilt Rules All () von Elizabeth Mannion

Inside a time capsule, Brian and Sean discover a decades-old mysteryIn 1918, the people of Redoaks buried a time capsule full of messages for the future. Besides all the grown-up stuff, the fourth-graders of 1918 included a packet of letters to the fourth-graders of todaywhich means Sean Quinn is about to get a letter straight from the past! But when it comes time to crack the capsule's seal, Sean and his brother Brian learn that its contents could change the town's future forever. Boris Vlado, the only surviving member of the fourth-graders of 1918, warns the boys that the time capsule holds a dangerous secret. But when they open the capsule, there's nothing inside! To find out why, Brian and Sean will have to solve a historic mystery that involves bank robbery, corruption, and the most valuable stamp collection Redoaks has ever seen.

Joan Lowery Nixon (19272003) was a renowned author of children's literature, best known for series like the Orphan Train Adventures and Casebusters. Born in Los Angeles, she began dictating poems to her mother before she could read. At the University of Southern California, Nixon majored in journalism, but took a job teaching the first grade upon graduating. In 1949, she and her husband moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, and in 1964 she published her first novel, The Mystery of Hurricane Castle. Nixon became a fan of mystery fiction when she was a child, and many of her most popular series incorporate elements of sleuthing. She won four Edgar Awards for best young adult mysteries, including prizes for her novels The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore (1979) and The Name of the Game Was Murder (1993). In addition to writing more than 140 young adult novels, Nixon also co-wrote several geology texts with her scientist husband.