Introduction / by Lemony Snicket -- Archie Smith, Boy Wonder / by Tabitha King -- Under the rug / by Jon Scieszka -- A strange day in July / by Sherman Alexie -- Missing in Venice / by Gregory Maguire -- Another place, another time / by Cory Doctorow -- Uninvited guests / by Jules Feiffer -- The harp / by Linda Sue Park -- Mr. Linden's library / by Walter Dean Myers -- The seven chairs / by Lois Lowry -- The third-floor bedroom / by Kate DiCamillo -- Just desert / by M.T. Anderson -- Captain Tory / by Louis Sachar -- Oscar and Alphonse: the Farkas Conjecture / by Chris Van Allsburg-- The house on Maple Street / by Stephen King -- Original introduction to The mysteries of Harris Burdick / by Chris Van Allsburg.