Monday with a Mad Genius by Mary Pope Osborne

This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical and public figures, are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical or public figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are entirely fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the entirely fictional nature of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
    Text copyright © 2007 by Mary Pope Osborne
Illustrations copyright © 2007 by Sal Murdocca
    All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
    RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks and A STEPPING STONE BOOK and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc. MAGIC TREE HOUSE is a registered trademark of Mary Pope Osborne; used under license.
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www.magictreehouse.com
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    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Osborne, Mary Pope.
Monday with a mad genius / by Mary Pope Osborne ; illustrated by Sal Murdocca. — 1st ed.
   p.  cm. — (Magic tree house; #38)
“A Merlin mission.”
“A Stepping Stone book.”
Audience: RL: 3.3
SUMMARY : Jack and Annie travel 500 years back in time to Florence, Italy, and spend a day helping Leonardo da Vinci in the hope of learning another secret of happiness.
1. Leonardo da Vinci, 1452–1519—Juvenile fiction. [1. Leonardo da Vinci, 1452–1519—Fiction.
2. Time travel—Fiction. 3. Magic—Fiction. 4. Brothers and sisters—Fiction.
5. Curiosity—Fiction. 6. Florence (Italy)—History—1421–1737—Fiction.
7. Italy—History—1492–1559—Fiction.]
I. Murdocca, Sal, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.O81167Mon 2007   [Fic]—dc22   2006101209
    eISBN: 978-0-375-89460-2
    v3.0

For James Quinn Courts

“
I wish to work miracles.
”
    —from the notebooks of
Leonardo da Vinci



O ne summer day in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, a mysterious tree house appeared in the woods. A brother and sister named Jack and Annie soon learned that the tree house was magic—it could take them to any time and any place in history! And no time at all would pass in Frog Creek while they were gone.
    Jack and Annie also learned that the tree house belonged to Morgan le Fay, a magical librarian from the legendary realm of Camelot. After they went on many adventures for Morgan, Merlin the magician began sending Jack and Annie on “Merlin Missions” in the tree house. With help from two young sorcerers named Teddy and Kathleen, Jack and Annie visited four
mythical
places and found valuable objects to help save Camelot.
    On their next four Merlin Missions, Jack and Annie once again traveled to real times and realplaces in history. After proving to Merlin that they knew how to use magic wisely, he entrusted them with the Wand of Dianthus. With the help of the wand, Jack and Annie would now be able to make their
own
magic.
    On their most recent adventure, Teddy and Kathleen told Jack and Annie that Merlin was very unhappy and not well and that Morgan wanted them to search for four of the secrets of happiness to share with Merlin.
    Now Jack and Annie are waiting for the tree house to return and take them on their second mission to help Merlin….

J ack poured milk over his cereal. His stomach felt fluttery. It was Monday—the first day of a new school year.
    Jack always felt nervous on the first day. What would his new teacher be like? Would his desk be close to a window? Would friends from last year be in his class again this year?
    “Annie, hurry!” Jack’s mom called upstairs. “It’s fifteen minutes till eight. School starts in half an hour.”
    Jack’s dad walked into the kitchen. “Are yousure you and Annie don’t want me to drive