September 16, 2025 • 15 mins
After returning The Secret Spot to the library, Marie decides to see if the sequel is available. What she discovers could just be a coincidence... or it might just be the next clue to solving the riddles.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Previously on Adventures on AA Way Island, in reading The
Secret Spot, Marie discovered what the oldest thing on AA Way
Island might be. She hoped the information would
be just what they need to finally find the next buried
treasure. Welcome to adventures on AA Way
(00:25):
Island. Chapter 7 Digging for Treasure
Part 1 As she ate dinner with her parents that evening, Marie
was so focused on their plan to question Madam Amato that she
barely touched the roasted potatoes on her plate.
(00:48):
When can we go make the custom ice cream flavor at Amato's?
She asked on Saturday morning before they open.
Her dad replied. I've already coordinated it with
J JS parents. You need to be there at 9:00 AM
Madam Amato is going to show youhow they make their premium ice
cream base and then you'll get to create your own flavor.
(01:11):
It will be the specialty flavor for the entire week.
Marie smiled, this was perfect. She and JJ would get to be alone
with Madame Amato and they'd be free to ask whatever questions
they wanted. After dinner, Marie and her dad
went to the library. Marie returned the secret spot,
(01:34):
then wandered around for a bit, waiting for her dad to get what
he needed. She noticed Sal was working and
had a sudden stroke of inspiration.
She needed another book right away and headed straight for the
information desk. Hi Sal.
Marie greeted the librarian. Sal looked up and smiled.
(01:55):
Hiya Marie, can I help you with something?
Yes, please, Marie said. Is the rare books room open yet?
It's been a long time. Not open yet.
Sal said. And they haven't given us a
revised estimate as to when it will reopen either.
Marie was disappointed and frustration bubbled inside her.
(02:19):
Why is it taking so long? She asked, not making any effort
to hide her exasperation. I don't know exactly.
The repairs seem to be more complicated than they
anticipated. Sal replied.
Marie flopped her head down on the information desk and thumped
it theatrically with her fist. Sal shushed her gently.
(02:43):
Marie lifted her head with a guilty smile and a shrug,
glancing around to see if her pounding had caused anyone to
stare. Why all the drama?
Sal asked. It's not like you.
I'm sorry. It's just that I was hoping to
get another book if you have it.Marie replied.
She wanted to get the sequel to The Secret Spot, even though the
(03:07):
Rare Books Room wasn't open. She hoped that the library had
the book and that Sal could retrieve it for her from the
Rare Books Room, just like Darius had done with The Secret
Spot. What's the title?
Sal asked, moving in front of the computer terminal, prepared
to look it up. I don't know.
Marie admitted. I just finished reading The
(03:30):
Secret Spot, and at the end of the book they teased that there
would be a sequel, but they didn't give the name.
Sal nodded thoughtfully. The sequel may not have been
written yet when The Secret Spotwas originally published, they
explained. Let me see if I can do some
digging. Sal turned back to the computer
terminal and tapped a few keys. Found it.
(03:53):
It's called the Chosen 3. Marie froze, her breath caught
in her throat. What?
She gasped. The Chosen 3 repeated Sal.
That's the title of the sequel. Instantly, Marie thought of the
second Riddle, whose words echoed in her memory.
(04:14):
Find the symbol. That's the key.
The secret club, The Chosen 3. Could it be possible?
But the sequel was referencing the same Chosen 3 the second
Riddle was Speaking of. It seemed too uncanny to be a
coincidence. Her pulse quickened and she
swallowed hard. Now she really had to get her
(04:38):
hands on that book. Do you have it?
And can I borrow it if you do? Marie asked urgently.
Sal turned back to the computer terminal yet again.
Please let it be there, Marie thought.
Please, please let it be there. After a moment, Sal looked up.
Sorry, Marie, we had that book, but it's listed as missing.
(05:02):
Marie's stomach suddenly churned.
You mean it was ruined in the fire?
She blurted, feeling panicked. What would they do if they
needed that book to solve one ofthe riddles and it was
destroyed? No, it was not ruined in the
fire, said Sal. It was just not on the shelf
(05:22):
where it should be. The last time we did an
inventory of the rare books room.
Marie was dumbfounded. Not where it should be, she
repeated. What does that mean exactly?
Well, it could mean a couple of things, Sal explained.
Someone could have taken it off the shelf and put it back in the
(05:43):
wrong place somewhere else in the library.
Sal shrugged apologetically and added.
Or it could have been stolen. Marie's heart sank.
Both of those options were terrible.
But when my dad and I originallywent down in the rare Books
room, you said we were the firstpatrons to go down there in over
(06:07):
a year, Marie argued. And that was true.
Sal replied. But it takes us almost two years
to gradually do a full library inventory, so the book could
have been missing from its spot for quite some time before
anyone noticed. Oh, Wass Almarie could say.
(06:28):
It felt like such an emotional roller coaster.
The high of having found anotherpotentially important clue,
followed by the immediate low ofhaving it ripped away in the
next moment is too much. She looked down, trying to
furiously blink back tears. It wasn't like her to be so
emotional. Good detectives don't cry when
(06:51):
they get bad news, she told herself.
But it didn't work. This felt like a big deal, and
telling herself not to cry only made the tears come faster.
Trying to hide her face, she turned away from Sal.
As she did this, she saw her dadchecking out a book at the front
desk. It was time to go.
(07:12):
She took a shuddery breath and quickly wiped her tears on her
sleeve. She just didn't want to fail as
a detective. She wanted to find all the clues
and solve all the riddles. I put a note in the system
stating that you would like to borrow the book, so we will keep
a special eye out for it and call you as soon as it's found.
(07:33):
Sal said gently. I'm sorry Marie, I didn't mean
to upset you, but don't worry, I've never known anyone to steal
a book since I've been working here, so I'm sure this one will
turn up. Books go missing from time to
time, it just happens. The kind words were helpful,
maybe there was hope. OK, thanks Sal.
(07:57):
Marie said. She wiped her eyes one more time
and turned to go meet her dad atthe front desk.
Once they got home, Marie took out her detective's journal and
turned to the page with dates she was tracking.
She noted the date she learned of the sequel to The Secret Spot
and today's date, the day she learned from Sal that the book
(08:18):
was missing. She paused a moment, rereading
her notes, then added also missing the book on the history
of AO Wei Island, and she sighed.
She didn't remember what date she discovered that information
and wished she had written it down when it was fresh in mind.
She had to be more careful abouttaking thorough notes as she
(08:42):
closed her journal and stowed itin her desk.
She made a mental note to ask atthe library to be notified if
and when that book was found too.
The rest of the week passed quickly, the summer break
approaching. There was a cheerful excitement
at school combined with lots of discussion as final project due
(09:03):
dates loomed. The distraction was a welcome
one for Marie. Maybe they'd be able to make
faster progress on the riddles when they had more free time
over the summer, she hoped. On Friday at lunch, the
conversation between her, JJ, and Christian turned to the
impending ice cream creating session with Madame Amato.
(09:24):
Just as it had done every other lunch period that week, Marie
and JJ had gone through countless flavor combinations
and options, everything from bits of different candy bars to
marshmallows to bubble gum. They were taking the
responsibility pretty seriously.Their creation was going to be
available to the public for a whole week after haul.
(09:49):
What do you think about adding nuts?
Marie suggested. I like nuts and ice cream, JJ
said. Yum, me too.
Marie agreed. And I think we should also ask
for visiberries. Yes, JJ said eagerly.
I hope she still has some. Maybe she used all of them,
(10:10):
making the vanilla visiberry crumble.
Maybe, but I'm pretty sure thosewere visi berries that they put
on top of mine and Saskia's juice drinks at the theater, so
I hope Madame Amato has some more too.
Marie said wistfully. Will you two stop talking about
the fun you're going to have tomorrow morning?
(10:30):
Christian said in an irritated growl.
You've been focusing on it non-stop all week.
It's bad enough that I'm grounded and can't go, but all
your discussions are making it worse.
Sorry. JJ said quickly, and Marie
echoed the apology. They had been so excited about
(10:50):
the ice cream making session, they hadn't thought about how
insensitive it was to talk aboutit in front of Christian.
I'm going to go study, Christiansaid gruffly.
He slung his backpack over his shoulder and quickly left.
Both girls watched Christian disappear into the sea of
students. I don't blame him for being so
(11:11):
cranky, said JJ. Marie nodded.
Yeah, I'd be upset if I couldn'tgo.
Me too. JJ agreed just as the lunch bell
rang. It was time to head back to
class. See you tomorrow morning.
As Marie walked to her class, she continued to muse about what
(11:31):
to put into the custom ice creamflavor.
She still loved peanut butter cookie dough, but her heart was
set on Visa. Berries and nuts seem to be a
great choice to go with the berries, so maybe in this case
some kind of chocolate would be best to round out the
combination. Marie's last class of the day
(11:52):
was one of her favorites, STEM Lab.
They had been working on a project to see who could
engineer the strongest bridge made out of up to 50 popsicle
sticks. But today, their teacher, Missus
Lee, said they were going to do something different.
Next year all of you will be moving on to the middle school,
(12:13):
she said. I was wondering how you were
feeling about that and if you have any questions.
Marie thought Missus Lee was wonderful.
Not only was she very smart, butshe was thoughtful and always
seemed to know the right thing to say to bring out the best in
her students and help them feel confident and capable.
(12:35):
A few hands shot into the air and various students asked their
questions. One wanted to know if there
would be a STEM lab in the new school.
Another asked how many students would be in the new school.
Marie found the conversation interesting and helpful.
She was a little nervous to switch schools, but also quite
(12:56):
excited. Maybe she'd have more classes
with JJ and Christian. After about 15 minutes of
questions and answers, everyone's curiosities were
satisfied. Missus Lee encouraged them to
ask their parents if more questions arose.
Then she turned to the day's project after school.
(13:17):
When she got home, Marie headed straight to the kitchen for a
snack. Her dad was chopping up veggies
for his vegetarian chili. Some onions were already
sizzling away in a saute pan. Marie grabbed a bright red apple
from the fruit bowl on the counter and took a bite.
As she crunched, she thought of Dragon, enjoying the apple.
(13:39):
Christian had brought them. Dragon.
With everything else going on, she'd almost forgotten they
still needed to try to find the next buried treasure referenced
in the third Riddle. Can we still go visit the oldest
tree on Sunday? She asked her dad.
Certainly, I think I'm looking forward to it as much as you
probably are, her dad said cheerfully.
(14:02):
I had a chat with JJ's and Christian's parents.
JJ can go, but Christian is not going.
He's grounded. I know, Marie said.
Poor Christian, he was missing out on a really big weekend
after having to wait yet again. They were hopefully going to
make some great progress and have a lot of fun in the
(14:24):
process. First, they'd get to make a new
ice cream flavor with Madame Amato on Saturday.
Then hopefully they'd find the next buried treasure on Sunday.
She felt cautiously optimistic that they were on the right
track. Marie grinned to herself,
wondering what secrets they would uncover when they found
(14:46):
the buried treasure hidden near the ancient tree at the center
of Awe Island. She couldn't wait to find out.
Marie and JJ are off to Amato's Ice Cream to design their own
custom flavor. While they're there, they hope
(15:07):
to ask Madam Amato more questions about their quest.
Will they get the answers they seek?
Find out when the adventure continues in our next episode of
Adventures on Awe Island. Thanks for listening to
Adventures on Awe Island. Be sure to follow us on your
(15:31):
favorite podcast player so you don't miss an episode.
Previously on Adventures on AA Way Island, in reading The
Secret Spot, Marie discovered what the oldest thing on AA Way
Island might be. She hoped the information would
be just what they need to finally find the next buried
treasure. Welcome to adventures on AA Way
(00:25):
Island. Chapter 7 Digging for Treasure
Part 1 As she ate dinner with her parents that evening, Marie
was so focused on their plan to question Madam Amato that she
barely touched the roasted potatoes on her plate.
(00:48):
When can we go make the custom ice cream flavor at Amato's?
She asked on Saturday morning before they open.
Her dad replied. I've already coordinated it with
J JS parents. You need to be there at 9:00 AM
Madam Amato is going to show youhow they make their premium ice
cream base and then you'll get to create your own flavor.
(01:11):
It will be the specialty flavor for the entire week.
Marie smiled, this was perfect. She and JJ would get to be alone
with Madame Amato and they'd be free to ask whatever questions
they wanted. After dinner, Marie and her dad
went to the library. Marie returned the secret spot,
(01:34):
then wandered around for a bit, waiting for her dad to get what
he needed. She noticed Sal was working and
had a sudden stroke of inspiration.
She needed another book right away and headed straight for the
information desk. Hi Sal.
Marie greeted the librarian. Sal looked up and smiled.
(01:55):
Hiya Marie, can I help you with something?
Yes, please, Marie said. Is the rare books room open yet?
It's been a long time. Not open yet.
Sal said. And they haven't given us a
revised estimate as to when it will reopen either.
Marie was disappointed and frustration bubbled inside her.
(02:19):
Why is it taking so long? She asked, not making any effort
to hide her exasperation. I don't know exactly.
The repairs seem to be more complicated than they
anticipated. Sal replied.
Marie flopped her head down on the information desk and thumped
it theatrically with her fist. Sal shushed her gently.
(02:43):
Marie lifted her head with a guilty smile and a shrug,
glancing around to see if her pounding had caused anyone to
stare. Why all the drama?
Sal asked. It's not like you.
I'm sorry. It's just that I was hoping to
get another book if you have it.Marie replied.
She wanted to get the sequel to The Secret Spot, even though the
(03:07):
Rare Books Room wasn't open. She hoped that the library had
the book and that Sal could retrieve it for her from the
Rare Books Room, just like Darius had done with The Secret
Spot. What's the title?
Sal asked, moving in front of the computer terminal, prepared
to look it up. I don't know.
Marie admitted. I just finished reading The
(03:30):
Secret Spot, and at the end of the book they teased that there
would be a sequel, but they didn't give the name.
Sal nodded thoughtfully. The sequel may not have been
written yet when The Secret Spotwas originally published, they
explained. Let me see if I can do some
digging. Sal turned back to the computer
terminal and tapped a few keys. Found it.
(03:53):
It's called the Chosen 3. Marie froze, her breath caught
in her throat. What?
She gasped. The Chosen 3 repeated Sal.
That's the title of the sequel. Instantly, Marie thought of the
second Riddle, whose words echoed in her memory.
(04:14):
Find the symbol. That's the key.
The secret club, The Chosen 3. Could it be possible?
But the sequel was referencing the same Chosen 3 the second
Riddle was Speaking of. It seemed too uncanny to be a
coincidence. Her pulse quickened and she
swallowed hard. Now she really had to get her
(04:38):
hands on that book. Do you have it?
And can I borrow it if you do? Marie asked urgently.
Sal turned back to the computer terminal yet again.
Please let it be there, Marie thought.
Please, please let it be there. After a moment, Sal looked up.
Sorry, Marie, we had that book, but it's listed as missing.
(05:02):
Marie's stomach suddenly churned.
You mean it was ruined in the fire?
She blurted, feeling panicked. What would they do if they
needed that book to solve one ofthe riddles and it was
destroyed? No, it was not ruined in the
fire, said Sal. It was just not on the shelf
(05:22):
where it should be. The last time we did an
inventory of the rare books room.
Marie was dumbfounded. Not where it should be, she
repeated. What does that mean exactly?
Well, it could mean a couple of things, Sal explained.
Someone could have taken it off the shelf and put it back in the
(05:43):
wrong place somewhere else in the library.
Sal shrugged apologetically and added.
Or it could have been stolen. Marie's heart sank.
Both of those options were terrible.
But when my dad and I originallywent down in the rare Books
room, you said we were the firstpatrons to go down there in over
(06:07):
a year, Marie argued. And that was true.
Sal replied. But it takes us almost two years
to gradually do a full library inventory, so the book could
have been missing from its spot for quite some time before
anyone noticed. Oh, Wass Almarie could say.
(06:28):
It felt like such an emotional roller coaster.
The high of having found anotherpotentially important clue,
followed by the immediate low ofhaving it ripped away in the
next moment is too much. She looked down, trying to
furiously blink back tears. It wasn't like her to be so
emotional. Good detectives don't cry when
(06:51):
they get bad news, she told herself.
But it didn't work. This felt like a big deal, and
telling herself not to cry only made the tears come faster.
Trying to hide her face, she turned away from Sal.
As she did this, she saw her dadchecking out a book at the front
desk. It was time to go.
(07:12):
She took a shuddery breath and quickly wiped her tears on her
sleeve. She just didn't want to fail as
a detective. She wanted to find all the clues
and solve all the riddles. I put a note in the system
stating that you would like to borrow the book, so we will keep
a special eye out for it and call you as soon as it's found.
(07:33):
Sal said gently. I'm sorry Marie, I didn't mean
to upset you, but don't worry, I've never known anyone to steal
a book since I've been working here, so I'm sure this one will
turn up. Books go missing from time to
time, it just happens. The kind words were helpful,
maybe there was hope. OK, thanks Sal.
(07:57):
Marie said. She wiped her eyes one more time
and turned to go meet her dad atthe front desk.
Once they got home, Marie took out her detective's journal and
turned to the page with dates she was tracking.
She noted the date she learned of the sequel to The Secret Spot
and today's date, the day she learned from Sal that the book
(08:18):
was missing. She paused a moment, rereading
her notes, then added also missing the book on the history
of AO Wei Island, and she sighed.
She didn't remember what date she discovered that information
and wished she had written it down when it was fresh in mind.
She had to be more careful abouttaking thorough notes as she
(08:42):
closed her journal and stowed itin her desk.
She made a mental note to ask atthe library to be notified if
and when that book was found too.
The rest of the week passed quickly, the summer break
approaching. There was a cheerful excitement
at school combined with lots of discussion as final project due
(09:03):
dates loomed. The distraction was a welcome
one for Marie. Maybe they'd be able to make
faster progress on the riddles when they had more free time
over the summer, she hoped. On Friday at lunch, the
conversation between her, JJ, and Christian turned to the
impending ice cream creating session with Madame Amato.
(09:24):
Just as it had done every other lunch period that week, Marie
and JJ had gone through countless flavor combinations
and options, everything from bits of different candy bars to
marshmallows to bubble gum. They were taking the
responsibility pretty seriously.Their creation was going to be
available to the public for a whole week after haul.
(09:49):
What do you think about adding nuts?
Marie suggested. I like nuts and ice cream, JJ
said. Yum, me too.
Marie agreed. And I think we should also ask
for visiberries. Yes, JJ said eagerly.
I hope she still has some. Maybe she used all of them,
(10:10):
making the vanilla visiberry crumble.
Maybe, but I'm pretty sure thosewere visi berries that they put
on top of mine and Saskia's juice drinks at the theater, so
I hope Madame Amato has some more too.
Marie said wistfully. Will you two stop talking about
the fun you're going to have tomorrow morning?
(10:30):
Christian said in an irritated growl.
You've been focusing on it non-stop all week.
It's bad enough that I'm grounded and can't go, but all
your discussions are making it worse.
Sorry. JJ said quickly, and Marie
echoed the apology. They had been so excited about
(10:50):
the ice cream making session, they hadn't thought about how
insensitive it was to talk aboutit in front of Christian.
I'm going to go study, Christiansaid gruffly.
He slung his backpack over his shoulder and quickly left.
Both girls watched Christian disappear into the sea of
students. I don't blame him for being so
(11:11):
cranky, said JJ. Marie nodded.
Yeah, I'd be upset if I couldn'tgo.
Me too. JJ agreed just as the lunch bell
rang. It was time to head back to
class. See you tomorrow morning.
As Marie walked to her class, she continued to muse about what
(11:31):
to put into the custom ice creamflavor.
She still loved peanut butter cookie dough, but her heart was
set on Visa. Berries and nuts seem to be a
great choice to go with the berries, so maybe in this case
some kind of chocolate would be best to round out the
combination. Marie's last class of the day
(11:52):
was one of her favorites, STEM Lab.
They had been working on a project to see who could
engineer the strongest bridge made out of up to 50 popsicle
sticks. But today, their teacher, Missus
Lee, said they were going to do something different.
Next year all of you will be moving on to the middle school,
(12:13):
she said. I was wondering how you were
feeling about that and if you have any questions.
Marie thought Missus Lee was wonderful.
Not only was she very smart, butshe was thoughtful and always
seemed to know the right thing to say to bring out the best in
her students and help them feel confident and capable.
(12:35):
A few hands shot into the air and various students asked their
questions. One wanted to know if there
would be a STEM lab in the new school.
Another asked how many students would be in the new school.
Marie found the conversation interesting and helpful.
She was a little nervous to switch schools, but also quite
(12:56):
excited. Maybe she'd have more classes
with JJ and Christian. After about 15 minutes of
questions and answers, everyone's curiosities were
satisfied. Missus Lee encouraged them to
ask their parents if more questions arose.
Then she turned to the day's project after school.
(13:17):
When she got home, Marie headed straight to the kitchen for a
snack. Her dad was chopping up veggies
for his vegetarian chili. Some onions were already
sizzling away in a saute pan. Marie grabbed a bright red apple
from the fruit bowl on the counter and took a bite.
As she crunched, she thought of Dragon, enjoying the apple.
(13:39):
Christian had brought them. Dragon.
With everything else going on, she'd almost forgotten they
still needed to try to find the next buried treasure referenced
in the third Riddle. Can we still go visit the oldest
tree on Sunday? She asked her dad.
Certainly, I think I'm looking forward to it as much as you
probably are, her dad said cheerfully.
(14:02):
I had a chat with JJ's and Christian's parents.
JJ can go, but Christian is not going.
He's grounded. I know, Marie said.
Poor Christian, he was missing out on a really big weekend
after having to wait yet again. They were hopefully going to
make some great progress and have a lot of fun in the
(14:24):
process. First, they'd get to make a new
ice cream flavor with Madame Amato on Saturday.
Then hopefully they'd find the next buried treasure on Sunday.
She felt cautiously optimistic that they were on the right
track. Marie grinned to herself,
wondering what secrets they would uncover when they found
(14:46):
the buried treasure hidden near the ancient tree at the center
of Awe Island. She couldn't wait to find out.
Marie and JJ are off to Amato's Ice Cream to design their own
custom flavor. While they're there, they hope
(15:07):
to ask Madam Amato more questions about their quest.
Will they get the answers they seek?
Find out when the adventure continues in our next episode of
Adventures on Awe Island. Thanks for listening to
Adventures on Awe Island. Be sure to follow us on your
(15:31):
favorite podcast player so you don't miss an episode.
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