Susannah 'Spooky" Flanagan
She’s 13 years old and a whiz at getting into everything, especially her detective father’s case files.  Spooky is super energetic and even more resourceful.  She and her friends are known as “The Sandrich Kids” because they attend Sandrich Academy, a private school for gifted kids, occupying a converted 150 year old mansion with a mysterious history.

Bobby Whitfield
He dreams of being a pilot and has the largest collection of model airplanes in town.  He and his Uncle Nick built a remote controlled plane model last Christmas.  It’s his favorite possession, especially since he installed the miniature color spycam in the nose.  Bobby lives with his mom Doris in the suburbs.

Chad Wilson-Wright
He’s known in school as “Hack” because of his love of computers and expertise on the Internet.  Chad’s dad Charlie & mom Valerie are divorced and he shuttles between them.  He loves animals and has a puppy named Doodles. Chad spends a lot of time training Doodles to do tricks and to be a tracker.

Claire Elizabeth Whitney
She lives with dad William & mom Elizabeth in a country home that’s a renovated barn.  Both Claire’s parents work hard at their family business - planning weddings and social events.  The family loves to travel and Claire gets to use her prized possession, a Nikon film camera to take hundreds of pictures she develops herself in the darkroom her dad built for her.  The family’s huge tropical aquarium in the den fascinates her mischievous pet, Skooter, a white cat with a striped tail.

Kiyoko Hakanami
Kiyoko lives with her dad Harumi, mom Itsiko and younger brother Harumi.  She’s a fine artist and specializes in drawing Anime.She’s inseparable from her sketch pad and is always drawing people and things around her.  She has a box of ‘secret pictures’ underher bed.  Every summer Kiyoko goes to Tokyo to visit her grandparents who run a travel agency.

Miguel La Playa
Miguel was born in Ecuador and lives with his dad Arturo & mom Maria, two brothers and a little sister.  Big brother Aldo is in the army. Younger brother Paco is always working on his baseball card collection and sister Constancia is a “tag along”, always asking for help with her schoolwork or… something.

Nina and Zoey Ricardo
Nina and Zoey are identical twins from Puerto Rico.  They live in the a USA now with their dad Luis & mom Lucille.  Luis is a salesman for a pharmaceutical company and Lucille is the town librarian.  Both Nina and Zoey are very active kids.  Nina loves gymnastics while Zoey has a genius I.Q. and spends her time reading text books and researching on the Internet.  They love to work in their mother’s huge flower garden where she cross breeds new varieties of orchids and roses.

Nkoli Nmtara
African-American Nkoli is proud of her name, which was her grandmother’s name.  She’s an introverted math whiz and kids at school call her Niki.  Her dad Marcus, an Oxford scholar, works for the State Educational Planning Commission.  Her mom Sanaa is a housewife and a great cook who loves to prepare mini-feasts for Niki’s school friends.  Nkoli and her family live in the suburbs in a new house they designed themselves.  What Nkoli really wants is a little sister.

Vijay Banjerjee
Vijay was born in the USA, but his parents are from New Delhi, India where his great grandfather was a Rajah.  His dad Mujibur is anengineer and his mother Ruth writes children’s books.  He has two younger brothers, Daniel, 8 and Murki, 6 who love to pester him.The boys’ activities and antics give Ruth a lot of material for her stories.  Vijay has his science lab set up in the attic where he conductsexperiments.  He “just knows” he will win a Nobel prize someday.

Johnny Onawa
Johnny is a full-blooded Native American.  His dad Ken Warhorse is a Congressman and a member of the tribal council, so he travels to Omaha for the annual meeting.  Johnny’s mom Cristy spends her time homemaking and feeding her ever-hungry family which includes Johnny’s two older sisters Frances, 15 and Flora, 16 ½ who are in high school and his older brother Jimmy Whitecloud, 19 a college sophomore who rebuilds classic cars in their garage.  Johnny loves to work with Jimmy and hopes to design his own race car someday. When Johnny turns 18, he will get his tribal middle name.

Spooky's August Puzzle
Print it and solve it.

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Zoey Reviews the New Leapster II
Educational Video Handheld from Leapfrog

The Leapster2 handheld is the newest member of the Leapster® family of Learning Game Systems--the number-one educational gaming platform, with nearly 5 million sold in the US. The USB-enabled Leapster2 systemoffers a sleek new form and online connectivity to give parents the inside track on what their little gamers are learning. Using the included PC- and Mac-compatible LeapFrog® Connect Application, parents can create customized profiles for their kids on LeapFrog's Learning Path, then connect the Leapster2 handheld to the computer to see the skills and concepts kids are practicing every time they play. As children progress along their individualized Learning Path, parents can help guide the learning and access further content to match their kids' interests and needs. When kids connect, the points they've earned during gameplay upload and unlock online rewards--and a sneak peek at further rewards to
work for. As with the original Leapster system, the Leapster2 handheld auto-levels, adjusting games to children's particular skills and progress, so players are appropriately challenged.

Every time you connect your Leapster2 handheld to your computer, detailed play data is transferred to your child?s Learning Path online, empowering you to see which skill areas your child is most engaged with, know when your child has started playing with content above their grade level, and even get a view into the actual questions your child has answered during play.

You can visit your child's Learning Path anytime from any web browser and spend as much or as little time as you like. Click the stones in the online Path view for a deeper understanding of each skill and where it falls on your child's learning journey.

Stay up-to-date with a regular email that summarizes your child's achievements. Only with LeapFrog can you share each step of your child?s unique learning journey..

All 30+ Leapster games work with all Leapster systems.

Street price is under $70.

For more information go to http://www.leapster.com

The Clone Wars are raging between the Separatists and the Galactic Republic. When Jabba the Hutt's son is taken by a group of renegades, two Jedi are summoned to investigate. Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi depart in search of answers: where is the Hutt's son, and who is controlling this mysterious renegade group? Yoda sends Ahsoka Tano along as Anakin's apprentice, Obi-Wan duels Asajj Ventress, and Anakin finds himself dueling Count Dooku once more. Meanwhile, the Sith plan to instigate a three-way war, including the Hutts.  Star Wars: The Clone Wars showcases an entirely new look and feel to the galaxy far, far away--combining the expansive scope of the Star Wars Saga with state-of-the-art computer-generated animation. On the front lines of an intergalactic struggle between good and evil, fans young and old will join such favorite characters as Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala, along with brand-new heroes like Anakin's padawan learner, Ahsoka. Sinister villains--led by Palpatine, Count Dooku and General Grievous--are poised to rule the galaxy. Stakes are high, and the fate of the Star Wars universe rests in the hands of the daring Jedi Knights. Their exploits lead to the action-packed battles and astonishing new revelations that fill Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

The Filmmakers:
Directed by Dave Filoni
Written by Henry Gilroy and George Lucas
Released by Warner Brothers Pictures
 

NEW! Leapster® Learning Game: Star Wars: Jedi Math  Embark on dangerous rescue missions as Anakin, R2-D2, C3PO and other jedi knights to free members of the Republic imprisoned on federation cruisers and increase your jedi ranking.  Fly to enemy ships, engage in starflight battles and duel with light sabers while learning basic mathematics and telling time skills.  The order of the galaxy depends on your success!  Leapster2 players can connect online for extra activities and rewards.  And with the LeapFrog® Learning Path, parents can see what their child is learning.  Teaches numbers, addition, subtraction and sequencing.

Erica Henderson - artist-designed Sandrich Kids Erica Henderson is one of the most interesting and innovative  artists on the modern scene. Her work has been featured on numerous book and magazine covers, but her most notable triumph to date is the wildly popular Baby’s First Mythos. Starting her professional career at the age of thirteen, Erica is already a popular and highly sought-after painter, cartoonist and illustrator. Come and hang out at her table to enjoy her artwork and sardonic wit. Those who bring chocolate will be appreciated. Those who bring key lime pie stand a good chance of receiving a free illustration.