"This book will grab readers from its first page with its witty characters and non-stop action."

- School Library Connection

Get to know the only kid on the FBI Director’s speed dial and several international criminals’ most wanted lists all because of his Theory of All Small Things in this hilarious start to a brand-new middle grade mystery series.

So you’re only halfway through your homework and the Director of the FBI keeps texting you for help…

What do you do? Save your grade? Or save the country?

If you’re Florian Bates, you figure out a way to do both.

Florian is twelve years old and has just moved to Washington. He’s learning his way around using TOAST, which stands for the Theory of All Small Things. It’s a technique he invented to solve life’s little mysteries such as: where to sit on the on the first day of school, or which Chinese restaurant has the best egg rolls.

But when he teaches it to his new friend Margaret, they uncover a mystery that isn’t little. In fact, it’s HUGE, and it involves the National Gallery, the FBI, and a notorious crime syndicate known as EEL.

Can Florian decipher the clues and finish his homework in time to help the FBI solve the case?

Edgar Nominee

Best Juvenile Novel

Parents' Choice

Award Winner

SSYRA

Award Master Lists

Grades 3-5 & 6-8

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"T.O.A.S.T. – the Theory Of All Small Things – leads to a great big, hugely fun, ginormously exciting thrill ride of a mystery!"

-–Chris Grabenstein, New York Times bestselling author of

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

"Framed! is an enormously fun, deviously clever novel. It has everything you could possibly want in a book: intriguing characters, surprising plot twists, an excellent mystery, action, suspense and plenty of humor. I wish I’d written it myself. Florian Bates is a fantastic protagonist, a worthy — and dare I say smarter — successor to Sherlock Holmes and Encyclopedia Brown. I look forward to many more adventures with him."

–Stuart Gibbs, New York Times bestselling author of

Spy School and Belly Up

"Clever, touching, and a ton of fun--Florian is my new favorite 12-year-old spy!"

–Wendy Mass, New York Times bestselling author of

The Candymakers and the Willow Falls series

"Florian Bates is awesome! I want him to be my best friend and solve the mystery of all my missing stuff."

—Liesl Shurtliff, New York Times bestselling author

of Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin

"This book is a delight from beginning to end. Lots of twisty clever fun with a healthy dose of danger. Move over, Encyclopedia Brown--Florian Bates is on the case!"

—Lisa Graff, National Book Award Nominiee and author of

A Tangle of Knots and Lost in the Sun

"FRAMED! is a captivating mystery where relatable characters string you along to a surprise ending. Readers will have fun picking out the little clues and piecing them together to solve the big case. Ponti has created a fascinating story that will make you value the power of simple observation."