When Buddy Stebbins stumbles onto the thirteenth floor of a shabby old building, he finds himself suddenly transported aboard a leaking pirate ship in a howling storm?three hundred years in the past! Cast adrift with Captain John Crack-stone, Buddy washes up in New England, where his plucky ancestor, Abigail, is caught up in the witchcraft mania. In an adventure filled with ghosts, witches, pirates, and razzle-dazzle treasure, Buddy might be able to save his wayward ancestors. But will he find his way back to the thirteenth floor?and home?

Sid Fleischman wrote more than sixty books for children, adults, and magicians. Among his many awards was the Newbery Medal for his novel The Whipping Boy. The author described his wasted youth as a magician and newspaperman in his autobiography The Abracadabra Kid. His other titles include The Entertainer and the Dybbuk, a novel, and three biographies, Sir Charlie: Chaplin, The Funniest Man in the World; The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West; and Escape! The Story of The Great Houdini.