Maureen Bartone

Ten-year-old Daisy and her two pals, Michael and Patrick, stumble across an abandoned old shed on their way to the park. Inside, they find a life-sized dusty old gumball machine with thousands of colorful gumballs inside the clear globe at the top. When one of the kids inserts a coin, the gigantic machine begins to rumble and shake and their strange journey begins. They are unable to fight the strong force that sucks them up the swirling tunnel and inside the gumball machine. Once inside, they find themselves in a strange but colorful, magical world. Unable to escape, the kids explore this odd place and meet some interesting gumball people who show them their world and introduce them to their friends. After a while, the kids begin to worry and wonder whether they'll find their way home or whether they'll have to stay in that gumball machine forever.

Maureen Bartone is the author of three middle grade fantasy-and-magic chapter books, and is a National Indie Excellence Awards FINALIST. She lives in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, with her husband, Geno. Together, they have three children and two grandsons. Her favorite things are family, music, writing, dancing, and laughing, but especially being a wife, mother, and grandmother.