Julio: a Brooklyn Boy Plays Detective to Find His Missing Father

By John Carter and Robert Eidelberg

A Brooklyn Boy Plays Detective to Find His Missing Father, writer and editor Robert Eidelberg has added
thought-provoking questions throughout the pages of
John Carters original story (theyre set off to the side here and there); these questions are intended to prompt you, the reader, to engage in some detecting, some reflecting, and even some expecting during the novels development of character, plot,
and point of view.

These provocative questions all appear under WERE YOU WONDERING? headings because they are just the sort of questions that good readers generally wonder about when they read mysteries (actually, when they read all kinds of stories). Good readers look closely (detect) in order to know; they think more fully (reflect) about what theyve noticed in order to understand what it most likely means; and they predict (mindfully expect) by using the details of a story and their own experiences and knowledge to guess at what will probably happen next.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514407882

John Carter

John Carter is a sports writer and author of Warriors on Horseback, Play the Masters, Newmarket: A Year at the Home of Racing, First Past the Post: History of Horse Racing, and co-author of The Stupid Footballer is Dead.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Robert Eidelberg

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Text and cover image

copyright Perfection Learning.

Reproduced under permission

from the publisher

All specially created editorial material

(including, but not limited to,

the Were You Wondering? introduction

and all of its almost 100

Detect/Reflect/Expect prompts

and their placements,

and the endpaper Assuming Author-ity)

copyright Robert Eidelberg.

Readers may contact Robert Eidelberg

at [e-mail]

This mystery novel is an original work of fiction by John Carter; the names of certain actual Brooklyn institutions and locations have been changed to protect the innocent and to disguise the guilty

Rev. date: 10/15/2015

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

724891

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

If You, the Reader, Are Wondering: What Exactly Is a Detect/Reflect/Expect Mystery Novel?

Call a novel a mystery novel and you are strongly suggesting that the reader will have an experience with a character — often a professional or amateur detective — who is trying to find a solution to a problem in a story that is frequently filled with tension and suspense. The young adult novel JULIO: A BROOKLYN BOY PLAYS DETECTIVE TO FIND HIS MISSING FATHER is very specific in its title and subtitle about who its amateur detective is and what he is trying to find out.

But, you may be wondering, what does it means to call a mystery novel a detect/reflect/expect mystery novel? Besides the intentional and purposeful rhyming of these three words, what do detect, reflect, and expect have to do with mysteries in general and the mystery of JULIO in particular?

Simply put, readers of mysteries often enjoy playing detective along with the fictional detective in the story — and the way they do this is to take the time to both look for and really pay attention to clues (that’s called detecting), to draw working conclusions from what those clues probably mean or suggest (that’s called reflecting), and to find patterns among the clues that allow detectives and readers to make a prediction about what might possibly happen next (let’s call that expecting).

In JULIO: A BROOKLYN BOY PLAYS DETECTIVE TO FIND HIS MISSING FATHER, writer and editor Robert Eidelberg has added thought-provoking questions throughout the pages of John Carter’s original story (they’re set off to the side here and there); these questions are intended to prompt you, the reader, to engage in some detecting, some reflecting, and even some expecting during the novel’s consideration of character, pursuit of plot, and development of point of view.

These provocative questions all appear under WERE YOU WONDERING? headings because they are just the sort of questions that good readers generally wonder about when they read mysteries (actually, when they read all kinds of stories). Good readers visualize (make mental pictures of) what they read (they detect) in order to truly see; they think more fully about (they reflect on) what they’ve noticed in order to understand what it most likely means; and they predict (mindfully expect) by using the details of a story and their own experiences and knowledge to guess at what will probably happen next.

Feel free to make use of all (or only some) of these carefully positioned WERE YOU WONDERING? prompts. Interact — or not.

No one will be looking over your shoulder as you read JULIO — and the set-off placement of the WERE YOU WONDERING? questions means that they will never interrupt your reading of the story — unless you invite them in. In fact, you might experiment with skipping some of them in a chapter and then, before you go on to the next chapter, going back and checking them out for extended thinking and wondering.

So, enjoy, from the creative imagination of John Carter, the story of amateur detective Julio Mendez — and learn about thinking through the special approach of this first ever Detect/Reflect/Expect young adult mystery novel.

— Robert Eidelberg

Sometimes when we go searching for others,

we succeed in finding ourselves.

Julio remembered what his father had always told him:

Think!

The Story Behind the Story of Julio Mendez

John Carter is the original voice behind the novel JULIO and the quest that its 15-year-old amateur detective goes on. Robert Eidelberg was editorial consultant and editor during John Carter’s writing of JULIO; Mr. Eidelberg later went on to create all the wondering aloud prompts and their placements for the retitled JULIO: A BROOKLYN BOY PLAYS DETECTIVE TO FIND HIS MISSING FATHER.

A lifelong resident of Brooklyn, New York,

Robert Eidelberg is the author and editor

of four other instructive works of fiction and non-fiction:

Playing Detective: A Self-Improvement Approach to Becoming a Better Thinker, Reader, and Writer By Solving Mysteries

Good Thinking: A Self-Improvement Approach to Getting Your Mind to Go from Huh? to Hmm to Aha!

Stanza-Phobia: A Self-Improvement Approach to Bridging Any Disconnect Between You and Poetry by Understanding Just One Poem (Yes, One!) and Winding Up Not Only Learning the Process Involved but Coming to Love at Least a Few More Poems (and Maybe Poetry Itself)

So You Think You Might Like to Teach: 23 Fictional Teachers (for Real!) Model How to Become and Remain a Successful Teacher

Chapter 1

J ulio woke up in the middle of the night. There was someone in the apartment. He listened; but he heard nothing. It was too dark to see. He said Hello but didn’t get an answer. Something was wrong. Julio got out of bed very quietly and put on his sneakers, his jeans, and his basketball shirt. He didn’t turn on the light. He opened the door to his bedroom and he felt a cold wind from the living room. He went down the hall to the living room. The door was closed, but the window was open.

Why was the window open? It was winter, and Julio and his father always kept the windows closed. Maybe there was a robber in the apartment. Julio turned on the light; there was no one in the room. The television was there, so was the radio. Julio decided that there was no robber in the apartment. He went to the window to close it. On the street outside he saw a big black limousine. Its headlights were off, but its red taillights were on. Just then it drove away. Why was there a limousine on Julio’s block in the middle of the night? Julio closed the window and decided to wake his father and tell him about the open window and the black limousine.

His father’s door was open, and the light was on. His father was not in bed. Julio looked at the clock next to the bed. It was 3:00 in the morning. Where was his father? Julio said Dad? but his father was not there. He looked in the closet. His father’s coat was there. He looked on the dresser. His father’s wallet and comb were there. What was going on? Julio’s father never went out at night, he never went out without his wallet, and he never went out in the cold without his jacket.

WERE YOU WONDERING?

Detect and Reflect and Expect

A novel’s opening is always important because it creates a first impression for you, the reader. Where and how does this novel’s opening create a mood or atmosphere that something is wrong?

Why would you predict this kind of atmosphere for most mystery novels?

Julio went to the front door. It was locked from the inside, and the chain was on the door. Where was his father? Did his father leave by the window? Why? Something was very wrong. Julio had to think. He was very tired, so he went to the kitchen to make some coffee. He didn’t like coffee, but he knew he had to be awake.

WERE YOU WONDERING?

Detect and Reflect and Expect

The title character of the novel is a Brooklyn teenager by the name of Julio (hoo-lee-oh) Mendez. What is your first impression of Julio — and which particular details from the author contributed to that initial impression?

Based on your own life so far, why would you predict (or not predict) that your first impression of Julio will turn out to be accurate?

Julio opened the cabinet and got the jar of coffee and a mug. He put four spoonfuls of coffee powder in the mug and put it on the kitchen table. He put some water in the kettle, put the kettle on the stove, and turned on the gas. He picked up a pack of matches from the table and lit the gas. Julio sat down at the kitchen table to wait for the water to get hot. He looked at the pack of matches in his hand. It was new. His father didn’t smoke cigarettes, and he usually lit the stove with a lighter. The pack of matches on the table was black with gold letters. The letters said Gotham Limousine Service. 4576 Atlantic Ave. Brooklyn, NY. Tel. [phone]. Limousine? Why did Julio’s father have matches from a limousine service? His father worked in a factory and took the subway to work.

WERE YOU WONDERING?

Reflect and Detect

Julio comes to the conclusion that his father left the apartment in a hurry. Which specific details make you think Julio is correct?

Just then he remembered the limousine outside his window. Maybe it was from Gotham Limousine Service. Julio picked up the telephone and called the number on the pack of matches. The telephone rang three times, and then Julio heard someone answer. Julio said Hello but then he heard that he was talking to a computer. He listened carefully to the voice on the telephone. It said: This number is no longer in service. No further information is available. What was he going to do now? Gotham Limousine was closed, and their telephone number was out of service. He decided to go to the address on the matchbook: 4576 Atlantic Avenue. Julio wrote a note to his father and put it on the table. It said: Dad—I went to look for you. If you get home before I do, please stay here. I will call you later. Love, Julio.

Just then the kettle started to whistle; the water was hot. Julio poured the water into the cup and drank the coffee with milk and sugar. It tasted terrible, and his stomach started to feel funny. He got some bread and bologna from the refrigerator and made two sandwiches, then he ate them with a glass of milk. It was time to go.

Julio put on two sweaters, his black hat, and his Chicago Bulls jacket. He got his bike out of the closet, took his keys from his dresser, and left the apartment. In the hallway he remembered: his father was gone, he had a big problem, and he was by himself. He went back into the apartment, into his father’s bedroom, and took fifteen dollars from his father’s wallet. He looked in the closet and got his father’s big knife. He was not supposed to touch the knife, but he was nervous, and he knew that he might have some serious trouble. He put the knife inside his jacket, and he put the money in his jeans. Julio went back to the kitchen and wrote on the note again: P.S. I took some money and your knife. Please don’t be mad. Love, Julio. Then he left. He was going to find his