The Complete, Incomplete Adventures of Donald Gardner and the Silver Shoes

FOR YEARS, PEOPLE HAVE THOUGHT OF THE WIZARD OF OZ AS A FAIRY TALE. BUT DONALD GARDNER IS ABOUT TO LEARN THE STORY IS TRUE. Two adventures come together as one in these revised editions of author Paul Miles Schneider's award-winning novel Silver Shoes* and its sequel The Powder of Life. The time is now, and the place is a dusty Kansas highway, where eleven-year-old Donald Gardner is traveling home with his parents after a boring summer vacation. They are approached at a rest stop by a poor woman offering to sell them an antique silver shoe. Donald's mother is reluctant at first, but she ultimately buys it. When the new school year starts, Donald brings the shoe in for show-and-tell, attempting to impress his classmates. His friends liken it to something out of The Wizard of Oz, and his teacher agrees the idea is not far-fetched considering author L. Frank Baum wrote about silver shoes, not "ruby slippers," which were strictly in the movie. But when Donald accepts a dare from his two best buddies to try it on, frightening and incredible things begin to happen. Strange animals cry out in the night. Dark, shadowy shapes lurk in distant corners. Scratching sounds are heard just outside his bedroom window. And when he meets George Clarke, a reclusive man in hiding and on the run for many years, Donald finds out there is a lot more to Baum's story than he thinks. Join Donald as he unravels Baum's earth-shattering secret in ... SILVER SHOES. The journey continues with THE POWDER OF LIFE-a magic substance that gives life to lifeless objects and prolongs it for the living. On his way home from school, a familiar rabbit missing a pocket watch delivers a grim warning message to Donald that his life is in danger now. With orders to find and return the watch, Donald and his friends Jon and Chris begin another incredible adventure. *Kansas Notable Book award-winner for 2010 -Kansas Center for the Book and the State Library of Kansas AUTHOR'S NOTE Telling the tale. That's what is most important to me. And that is why I decided to offer these two serialized novels in a combined edition at an "attractive price," as they used to say in vintage advertisements. I've also gussied them up a bit-smoothing out language, correcting minor errors, and even embellishing the prose here and there in my never-ending quest to make them as good as I possibly can, given my abilities as a mere mortal and self-published author. These are the definitive editions of "Silver Shoes" and its sequel "The Powder of Life." Call this the "director's cut" of a double feature, if you will. And if you already own the first editions of each book, I am by no means advocating that you buy this new and improved printing. But if you haven't yet taken the journey with Donald Gardner, or if you prefer things "new and improved," this is the ideal mode. I actually took my cue from Lewis Carroll, who elected to have his two Wonderland novels published in a combined edition shortly after they were written. I'm proud of these stories, and that's why I am compelled to share them with as many people as possible. "Silver Shoes" was first published in 2009 and was recognized as a Kansas Notable Book in 2010 by the Kansas Center for the Book and the State Library of Kansas. Its sequel, "The Powder of Life" was published last year in 2012. I offer them both to you now and hope you enjoy the ride! Best always, Paul Miles Schneider