by Penelope Torribio, known by many as Mrs. T., announces a novel series that tells
an exciting story, while modeling Think Like a Writer.
Penelope’s Story. teach children, teens and even adults how to THINK LIKE A WRITER. I wondered how I might reach even more kids, teens and even adults. That is when it came to me that I could write a novel series that tells an exciting adventure, while teaching concepts I taught in the classroom. I decided to name this kind of novel, Edu-Tainment novels. and that all of my novels would embody my teaching motto, “Never Teach One Thing When You Can Teach Two or More.” So far I have two novels
Volume 1: The Ghost of the Jangling Keys, Volume 2: The Ghost of Tomb 11, Tel el Armarna, Egypt, and I am working on Volume 3: The Ghost of the Jaguar Queen in the Land of the Mayas. This page tells a little about my first two novels.
Volume 1~The Ghost of the Jangling Keys
Ten-year-old Charles Dayton Stratton III arrives at the Château du Mont angry, alone, and certain of one thing:
He will escape.
Sent away from his ocean-view home in Newport, Rhode Island, Charles believes he’s been forgotten by his parents—and he has no intention of staying behind stone walls topped with barbed wire.
But the château has other plans.
A locked gate.
A mysterious jangling of keys in the night.
An unwanted roommate.
A timid handyman named Jacques.
And a ghostly journal from another time…
As Charles plots his escape—jumping from moving cars, climbing from windows, and rebelling at every turn—he is slowly drawn into a deeper mystery: the story of two children from the time of the French Revolution, whose fear and suffering still echo through the château.
At the same time, something unexpected begins to happen.
Through the books he reads—A Wrinkle in Time, The Little Prince, Oliver Twist, Treasure Island, Tolkien’s Ring Series—Charles starts to notice a pattern.
The stories feel strangely connected to his own life.
And for the first time, he begins to wonder:
What if the way a writer thinks… could change the way he sees everything?
Blending mystery, history, humor, and heart, and the beauty of France, The Ghost of the Jangling Keys is more than an adventure. It’s a story about a boy who feels unloved—and discovers connection through reading, imagination, and shared discovery.
Perfect for classrooms and kitchen tables, this Edu-Tainment novel invites readers of all ages to think like writers, where every question leads to another story—and every story brings people together.
Is it wrong to tell the ending-Charles at 11 gets published, earns $500 and is sent a list of one thousand haunted places. At the top of the list is his most favorite place in the world, Egypt, and through a miracle, Charles and the timid all-around man at the Châtea du Monte are headed for Cairo in the next exciting adventure.
