
Part of Series
Dave Sanchez (aka The Gecko) and his pet gecko (aka Sticky) are back in their fourth dangerous encounter with the dastardly treasure hunter Damien Black! Thirteen-year-old Dave Sanchez is a daytime student, an after-school courier . . . and a secret superhero! So far Dave's been able to juggle his different roles. But in Dave's hands is the scariest package he's ever been asked to deliver. It's a tube, sealed on each end with wax, and addressed to . . . Damien Black. Holy tacarole! He can't just hand over a package to the most devious criminal in the city! Who knows what's in there? So Dave breaks a cardinal rule of mail carriers everywhere—he opens the package. Inside is a small bottle that's one drop, two at most, tested, works. The potion in this bottle is blue and sparkly and oozy and smelly—but what does it do? Ah, poor Dave. He has opened a Pandora's box of trouble. Your classic can of worms. And as a result, he'll find himself facing off with six-horned goats, terrifying tarantulas, a java-junkie monkey—and, of course, Damien Black.
Author

Wendelin Van Draanen has written more than thirty novels for young readers and teens. She is the author of the 18-book Edgar-winning Sammy Keyes series, and wrote Flipped which was named a Top 100 Children’s Novel for the 21st Century by SLJ, and became a Warner Brothers feature film with Rob Reiner directing. Her novel The Running Dream was awarded ALA’s Schneider Family Award for its portrayal of the disability experience. Van Draanen's latest book, Hope in the Mail, is part memoir, part writing guided, designed to encourage aspiring writers to pursue their dream. Van Draanen is also the author of two short chapter-book series. The Gecko & Sticky books, are fun read-alouds, perfect for reluctant readers, and the Shredderman books—featuring a boy who deals with a bully—received the Christopher Award for “affirming the highest values of the human spirit” and became a Nickelodeon made-for-TV movie. Van Draanen was a classroom teacher for fifteen years. She and her husband reside in California and have two sons.