Rocco Beastie, the Magic Shoes, and the Candy Caper

Once upon a time, there was wonder, adventure, and magic in everything. For children, especially the Beastie children, there still is and always will be. The Beastie children can even find wonder, adventure, and magic in a shoe store, along with life lessons and critical-thinking skills. Rocco is headed back to school and knows the immense importance of the perfect school shoes--the perfect, special kind of school shoes that are full and flowing with the most powerful kind of magic that makes kids run faster, jump higher, and kick farther than anyone else. Even more important than that, the perfect magical shoes are flowing with the powerful, special kind of magic thatmakes all the other kids (especially the mean kids and bigger kids) like them and think that they are interesting and funny instead of different and weird;makes them invisible to the teacher so that he or she looks right through them when they don't know the answer;makes them look cool every time the cutest and most popular kids in school are around; and most importantlyhelps them to be strong, be full of courage, and persevere, because sometimes even the most magical of shoes fail.Such things are beyond the realm of adult knowledge and memories. Adults are grown-up, are too old, and have simply forgotten about this type of magic, which is why Rocco will be all on his own in the quest for his perfect shoes. In addition to this ultimate, extreme quest, Rocco finds that he has many more obstacles and trials to overcome in his quest for magical perfection.

-- A.D. Beastie