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Welcome to the strangest hotel in the world! There’s no place on earth like the Whippet Hotel. Every floor has its surprises and secrets. Guests are either mad or mysterious. And ducks are everywhere.

If anyone knows the Whippet, it’s Leo, the caretaker’s son. But when he finds four strange boxes that lead him to hidden floors he realises something extraordinary is going on.

As the hotel begins to fall apart, Leo's on the ride of his life, without ever having to step outside.

A wonderfully quirky new novel from award-winning American author, Patrick Carman.

Betty was the head duck, a real troublemaker when she wanted to be, but Leo knew how to keep her calm and happy. Ms. Sparks hated ducks -- Betty in particular -- and she loathed the maintenance crew, otherwise known as Leo and Clarence Fillmore.   

“Don’t worry about Betty,” Leo said. “I can handle her. I brought treats.”

Leo patted the front pocket of his overalls just to be sure he had what he needed. While he did, the new summer bellboy began creeping ever so slowly away from the front door toward them. His mom was Pilar, the hotel maid. She’d been with the Whippet a long time, but this was the first summer her son had been allowed to work at the hotel.

The boy arrived at Leo’s shoulder, staring down at the key card. “You have a Pronto! card,” said the boy.

“Lucky.” Leo nodded and tried not to smile with too much excitement at the shorter, darker skinned kid in the spiffy red uniform. How did he even know about Pronto! cards?

“Remi, door, now!” barked Ms. Sparks, and the new boy high-tailed it back to his post, where he stood staring morosely at the floor, glancing up now and again to see what was about to happen.

Leo felt sorry for him, stuck as he was in the lobby with Ms. Sparks all day. The poor guy must be cursed. Ms. Sparks turned to a bright green statue of a frog on her desk. It had a big belly, like a frog Buddha, and it was laughing. She placed the card in a slot right about where the frog’s bellybutton would be if it had one, and the card disappeared.

This sent two orange marbles shooting out of the frog’s head toward the ceiling, which landed perfectly on two metal tracks that swished and turned wildly overhead. Watching the marbles make their way down the tracks gave Leo a chance to take in the entire lobby. The space was dominated by huge green plants carved into the shapes of animals, set against purple walls. There was an elevator with polished gold doors -- strictly for guests -- and a wide, ornate staircase with a red carpet and dark wood banisters. The orange marbles followed the tracks to a green giraffe, twisting around its neck until they hit a long straightaway and disappeared into two holes above a little orange door.

The door creaked open ever so slightly and Ms. Sparks leaned over the desk, once more giving Leo a look of death. The new bellboy stole a longing glance at the orange door, but didn’t have the courage to come closer.

“Do NOT, under any circumstances, put a duck in there,” Ms. Sparks sternly commanded. “If you have a duck on your person, use the duck elevator.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Leo. “No ducks where ducks don’t belong. I wouldn’t think of it.”

Captain Rickenbacker, who had shown up two years ago and hadn’t left the building since, entered the lobby with his red cape flapping behind him. He was a technology millionaire many times over, but he’d grown weary of the stress and the computer screens. Ms. Sparks liked to say he’d gone a little off his rocker, but Leo wasn’t so sure. Captain Rickenbacker had fallen head over heels for the hotel from the moment he’d stepped foot into the lobby.

He loved the Whippet Hotel. It made him happy. It made him content. And so he had stayed – two years running – on the third floor, in one of the oddest rooms in the hotel. Leo knew better than to get into a conversation with Captain Rickenbacker – it could take a long time – so he quickly opened the small orange door and went inside. He looked back at the bellboy, who gave him a thumbs up. Leo returned the gesture and closed the orange door behind him. Once the door was shut, Leo knew what to do. He’d been inside several times before, always with Mr. Whippet.  Being alone now made him miss Merganzer Whippet even more.

Leo put these thoughts aside and walked the few short steps in the near darkness to a seat next to a set of twisting poles that seemed to rise endlessly into the dark above. Sitting on the seat made the poles glow dimly -- one orange, the other red -- and suddenly the tunnel leading up was full with dots of white, like stars in the sky. 

This is going to be good, Leo thought, first buckling himself in with the seatbelt, then pulling the shoulder bar down. It felt like being on a rollercoaster, only better, because Leo knew what came next. No sooner was he strapped in than the Double Helix, which is what Mr. Whippet called it, sent Leo twisting up the centre of the Whippet Hotel like a wound-up bolt of lightning. His face felt like it was melting as the Double Helix flew up and up, rounding the glowing poles as it went, arriving at the roof in five seconds flat. Stopping was almost as fun as taking off, and it was the main reason wearing the seatbelt was a good idea.

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that, even when I’m a hundred years old, Leo thought.