Life in Sassafras Springs has always been predictable, boring even, but one afternoon that changes when Eben McAllister's pa challenges him to find Seven Wonders in Sassafras that rival the real Seven Wonders of the World. The reward? An adventure that Eben's been craving -- a trip to Colorado. Even doesn't think he'll have any luck -- he can't think of one single thing that could be considered wondrous in Sassafras -- but he's willing to try. Little does he know that the Wonders he'll discover among his neighbors, friends, relatives, and family will give him the adventure of a lifetime...without ever leaving his home. "Perfect for reading aloud." -- School Library Journal Betty G. Birney is an Emmy-winning screenwriter who specializes in live-action TV, and animation for children. She lives with her family in Studio City, California. Matt Phelan's black-and-white illustrations first appeared in The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty G. Birney. His picture books include The New Girl...and Me and Two of a Kind, both written by Jacqui Robbins. Matt lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs By Betty G. Birney Aladdin Paperbacks Copyright © 2007 Betty G. Birney All right reserved. ISBN: 9781416934899 How It Started Sometimes extraordinary things begin in ordinary places. A fancy-dancy butterfly starts out in a plain little cocoon. A great big apple tree grows from a tiny brown speck of a seed. And the Wonders started right on our own front porch on a hot summer night I would have forgotten on the spot if it hadn't been for what got started then and kept on going. Who knows, maybe Columbus decided to look for a New World one hot summer night when he got tired of staring at the same old barn. Or maybe one evening after supper, Balboa stood up and said, "Excuse me now, folks. I'm going to search for the Pacific Ocean." There was no chance of seeing an ocean in Sassafras Springs, which is set smack dab in the center of the country. Though a dip in Liberty Creek was welcome on a boiling hot day, to my mind it was a poor excuse for a body of water. Shoot, it wasn't even a dribble on the big map of the United States that hung on the schoolhouse wall. Red Hawk, Coy, and Iron Valley all had dots on the map, but not Sassafras Springs, Missouri. We might as well have been invisible, yet there I was, sitting on the front porch with Pa and Aunt Pretty. The chores were done, our bellies were full, and the mosquitoes hadn't worked up much of an appetite yet. Aunt Pretty sat in her high-back rocker, crocheting some lacy thing as usual, though for the life of me I couldn't make out what it was meant to be. I hoped it wasn't intended for me. Pa whittled on a stick and I was staring hard at a drawing in a book. It was a first-rate book with lots of pictures in it. Miss Collins, the schoolteacher, gave it to me on the last day of school for getting the best marks in geography. My mind was a million miles away when suddenly my aunt said, "Eben McAllister, you've had your nose in that book so long, I forgot what you look like! Wake up and see the world." I gazed out at the familiar white fence, the faded red barn, and the yellow clay road. A pair of fireflies blinked over Aunt Pretty's peony bed. Our horses, Pat and Murph, were in the barn, Mabel and Myrt were milked, and the chickens had gone to bed long ago. My dog, Sal, thumped her tail, most likely hoping I would stir up some excitement. She should have known better. "Nothing to see," I said and went back to my book. Sal rolled on her side and yawned. "You'd think someone would have something interesting to say about something ," Aunt Pretty said. "Living with the two of you is like living alone. I might as well talk to myself." Although I didn't say it, Aunt Pretty did talk to herself, all day long. It was no picnic taking care of Pa and me. She moved in when Ma died four years ago and did all she could. Still, it was lonely for her because Aunt Pretty could talk your arm off, while Pa and I weren't ones to waste words. "What's so interesting about that book, anyway?" Aunt Pretty asked. "It's about the Seven Wonders of the World," I told her. "They built these amazing things way back in ancient Greece and Egypt and places." Pa blew the shavings off his stick. "What things?" he asked. I showed him the book, and he took his time studying the drawings. He read the names out loud, and they sounded fine. The Great Pyramid at Giza. The Colossus of Rhodes. The Statue of Zeus. The giant Lighthouse at Alexandria. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Big things. Wonderful things. "We don't have anything like that around Sassafras Springs," I pointed out. "We do have the wash hanging on the line every Monday," Aunt Pretty chuckled. "Call it the Hanging Laundry of Sassafras Springs and put it in a book. There's your Wonder." I tried to make her u