National Scavenger Hunt Day & The Goonies!

It all started with the skeleton under the floor…

Today, May 24, is National Scavenger Hunt Day! If you like hunts, but aren’t participating in a real-life hunt today, here’s a fun way go on a scavenger hunt in your imagination…with my middle-grade chapter book, The Secret Astoria Scavenger Hunt!

The story opens with…

“The human skeleton dangled from an invisible cord beneath a clear floor panel, light from the nearby fireplace flickering on the top of its skull…”

So where do The Goonies come in?

I dreamed up the story when I was in Astoria, Oregon, for The Goonies Anniversary Celebration. 

If you’re a Goonies fan, you know that the 1985 movie was filmed in and around Astoria—and every five years, the town puts on a big event celebrating all things Goonie!

But the inspiration for the book goes waaay back. When I was a kid in St. Cloud, Minnesota, one of my friends lived in a big house with a secret passageway. And when I was even younger, I always dreamed of having a secret room of my own. So being very intrigued by secret and mysterious places…

And being a big fan of The Goonies movie, that weekend visit to Astoria, I visited an amazing Victorian home, lots of historical sites, and fascinating nooks and crannies. My writer’s brain did a lot of alchemy, and in popped a story about 3 plucky kids going on a ghostly scavenger hunt!

Here’s the Victorian mansion that inspired the haunted B&B in my story

And the old Astoria county jail, now the Oregon Film Museum, that appeared in the movie…and where my fictional scavenger hunt begins!

Also, while writing the book, I was reading Anne of Green Gables. I was so taken by the sweetness and innocence of that story, that I wanted to reflect that simpler time in my book. It’s for tweens, but younger kids, and early teens might like it too. 

Here’s more about the story…

The Goonies Anniversary Celebration brings Seattle tween Morgan to Astoria, Oregon, for a fun weekend with her younger Astoria cousins, Sean and Ronan. The boys have just entered a spooky contest inspired by the movie, and Morgan wants to help them win…and she’s determined to make their Anniversary Celebration weekend together the most memorable ever!

But there’s something really peculiar about the bed-and-breakfast where Morgan, almost thirteen, and her mom are staying. When an even more outlandish girl at the B&B asks the three to go on a cryptic quest on her behalf—a scavenger hunt that could help the boys win the contest—Morgan and her cousins begin a rollicking visit to Astoria’s most famous spots.  

Yet as the weird hunt kicks into high gear, they discover a mysterious boy is following them all over town.

Here’s Astoria’s historical theatre, reputed to be haunted. It inspired the scary theatre in the book’s scavenger hunt!

With the stranger in hot pursuit, the kids realize that the secrets and legends of old Astoria may be haunting them. Will Morgan, Sean and Ronan be able to escape from the powerful forces of the past?  Or will they remain trapped in a world of shadows and dangerous secrets?

To celebrate the 10-Year Anniversary of The Secret Astoria Scavenger Hunt, I’m offering a special sale on my store… Buy the paperback, and get a free print copy of the first book in the series too! Price includes shipping! 

The sale goes through June 8, 2025, this year’s The Goonies Anniversary Celebration, or while supplies last. And even if you only take a look at my store, I appreciate your supporting my small business!

If you prefer ebooks, you can find The Secret Astoria Scavenger Hunt at all your favorite bookstores…Amazon, Kobo, B&N, and Apple Books. You can also get the auto-narrated audiobook at Amazon! 

The Secret Astoria Scavenger Hunt is a tale that also touches upon the ways kids find their place in the world. And if you’re a big Goonies fan, here’s where you can find out about the 2025 Celebration!