PJ and Friends

In order to earn money for a certain charity, PJ comes up with a plan which he explains to his skeptical friends, Matty and Shelly. PJ is a terrific bowler and wants to enter a professional tournament that gives cash prizes. However, being only 14 years old, he's sure the tournament won't accept him to compete against adult professionals. What to do? The boys put their heads together and come up with a plan. PJ will wear a mask, and being big for his age, will easily pass as an adult. The explanation is that this individual, using the alias "Señor Mysterioso," must wear a mask because he's a secret government witness against a big mob boss and his identity can't be revealed. All goes according to plan, except that this is such an interesting story – a masked bowler – that it becomes big news all over the country. Several gang bosses, who actually do have trials coming up, see the story and figure that this Señor Mysterioso is a secret witness against them – and each sends thugs to where the tournament is being held to stop this masked Mysterioso in his tracks. What follows is high adventure – with fights and shooting and kidnappings and cases of mistaken identity galore. And while all this is going on, PJ is trying to win a bowling tournament against some of the sneakiest, most brazen competitors that one could ever meet.

PJ and his two best friends, Matty and Shelly, volunteer as extras in a new opera company performing Aida as their initial offering. What at first seem to be a series of life-threatening accidents during rehearsals are finally realized to be outright acts of violence and attempted murder. Someone is determined to stop the production, ruin the opera company and kill Aida herself. PJ and his friends divide their time on stage as soldiers in the Pharaoh's army, and behind the scenes trying to uncover the reasons for these acts of destruction and who's behind them. As the opera proceeds, scene by scene, act by act, the boys come closer and closer to the truth – finding a secret passage in the theater and battling off attempts at arson, kidnapping, sabotage and murder. Two exciting stories unfold in tandem – on stage the slave girl Aida and Radames, a captain in the Pharaoh's guard, try to fight off the forces arrayed against them – and behind the scenes, PJ and his friends struggle to save the production and the life of Aida. As the opera ends with Aida and Radames singing their sad farewell duet, the boys learn the shocking truth. In the unforgettable finale, on stage, in front of an astonished audience, the truth is revealed, all is explained and the villain is unmasked. Aside from being an action-adventure story with incredible twists and turns, the novel also gives the reader a glimpse of why Aida is one of the most famous and beloved operas in history. At the end, is a short biography of the composer, Giuseppe Verdi.