Don't Call Me Toad!

by Mary Francis Shura

After Jane Potter's best friend, Peter, moves away, Jane spends her time with her pet rabbits and her dog Missy until a chance encounter with Dinah Dobbins, an Air Force brat, leads Jane into adventure, terror, and eventually friendship

124 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1987

About the author

Mary Francis Young was born on 23 February 1923 in Pratt, Kansas, the daughter of Jack Fant and Mary Francis (Milstead) Young. When she was very young, her family moved to the Pacific Northwest, where she raised. She studied at Maryville State College. On 24 October 1943, she married Daniel Charles Shura, who died in 1959. They had two children: Marianne Francis Shura (Spraguc) and Daniel Charles Shura. On 8 December 1961, she married Raymond C. Craig, they had a daughter Alice Barrett Craig (Stout), before their divorce.

Since 1960, she wrote over 50 books of various genres: children's adventures and teen-romances as Mary Francis Shura, M. F. Craig, and Meredith Hill; gothic novels as Mary Craig; romance novels as Alexis Hill, Mary Shura Craig and Mary S. Craig; and suspense novels as M. S. Craig.

Her children's novel "The Search for Grissi" received the Carl Sandburg Literary Arts Award in 1985, and she also was nominated to the Young Hoosier Book Award. In 1990, she was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America.

She lived in Hinsdale, Illinois, where her apartment burned on 13 December 1990. At 67, she died of injuries suffered in the fire on 12 January 1991 in Loyola University Medical Burn Center in Maywood.

Reviews

[Val · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice shorter mystery story that I started to read out loud to my boys (7 & 4) but stopped because of external circumstances. My 7 yr old was really into it and wanted to finish the story out, but I think some of the suspense scenes might have been too much for him. After I'd already returned it to the library he wanted to pick it up and read it.

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my! I read this a long time ago, way back when I was in elementary school! I really liked it. I haven't read it in years! I don't even know what made me think of it today, but I was on goodreads and wondered if it was on here because let's be honest, while goodreads has most books it does lack a few of the more obscure older books. Ah nostalgia!

[Cws]

JAR4-Shu

[Noah · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh. picked it up in a book bin. A fun adventure, but nothing special compared to others of it's kind.