Book excerpt: Winner of the Edgar Award: When her homing pigeons disappear while her father is fighting in World War I, a twelve-year-old girl suspects a German spy may be responsible With her father in France, fighting in the war, Pam Lowder has the responsibility of taking care of the family’s prize-winning homing pigeons on their farm. The birds are special because her father trained them to fly at night so they can bring messages to his family when he’s not there. And now a stranger with a foreign accent has shown up in Currituck with an offer to buy the whole lot. But Pam isn’t interested in selling. She loves the pigeons and would much rather spend time with them than go to school. Then she wakes up one morning to find some pigeons missing. After the disappearance of Caspian, her favorite, the plucky pigeoneer sets a plan in motion to catch the thief. She has a pretty good idea who it is. But how is she supposed to rescue her pigeons and outwit a German spy? This ebook includes a historical afterword.