Loretta Mason Potts

Imagine how shocked you would be if, like ten-year-old Colin Mason, you were the oldest (smartest, best) kid in a family of four, and then you found out that all these years, without knowing it, you’ve had an older sister, an “awful, awful, bad, bad, girl—Loretta Mason Potts.” Who? What? Wait! ... But this is only the first of many surprises that lie in store for Colin, as things get curiouser and curiouser very fast. Loretta (a glum gangly girl and so very very rude!) comes home and before you know it, Colin is secretly following her down a hidden tunnel that leads from a bedroom closet to an astonishing castle, where a charming and beautiful countess keeps court attended by a dapper and ever-obliging general, and in this world everybody loves Loretta (especially when she’s rude), so much so that they’re begging her to stay with them forever. What is the secret behind this mysterious other world and how does it connect to the many secrets in the Mason family? It’ll take a spellbinding, hair-raising adventure, involving not just Colin and Loretta but their mother and the rest of the family, to work that out.

Mary Coyle Chase (1907–1981) was born in Denver, Colorado, and lived there all her life. She worked for various Denver papers as a journalist, began to write plays, and in 1944 had a huge success with Harvey, which won the Pulitzer Prize and was later made into a movie starring Jimmy Stewart.

Harold Berson (1926–1986) was born in Los Angeles and studied art in Paris. Loretta Mason Potts, originally published in 1958, was the first book he illustrated, but he would go on to draw pictures for more than ninety books, including many that he also wrote.