Ages 11 to 13
A race to find 12 relics to save the planet, an time-traveling astrolabe built in the 16th century by Copernicus. A thrilling adventure with puzzles and codes AND AN ANCIENT STAR MAP!.<br /><br />13 year old Wade Kaplan, stepbrother Darrell, cousin Lily, and Lily's friend Becca and Wade's father, Roald, fly from Austin, Texas to Germany for a funeral. Wade's "uncle" Henry, an astronomy professor in Berlin, sent Wade's dad a coded e-mail then died under mysterious circumstances!  To keep the time-traveling astrolabe out of the hands of the evil "Knights of the Teutonic Order of Ancient Prussia" and their deadly and beautiful ruler "Galina", Uncle Henry had put the relics in the hands of "The Guardians".  However the Knights (KotTOAP) have become powerful and the only thing to stop them is that darned astroglobe which is now in 12 pieces and scattered over 12 time zones hidden by 12 guardians - so off our merry band of intrepid heros go, next to Italy and then Guam.  The author is an expert with 100+ books having sold over 10 million copies.