Family Matters by Nina Lavoie

Intermediate Level English. All in the present for transposition exercises.

China has secrets. That much is obvious. When she travels to Paraguay to visit her family, she wants to hear the whole story about Wenasclao and finding the Simon Bertoni treasure. Everyone is happy to see China. But something is amiss.

When goons dressed up as the secret police come storming into the house to arrest her, even the Bertoni family is surprised that she has vanished. Then Johnny, a new teacher from school, finds listening devices in the house. Things are starting to get out of hand.

Apparently some people think that China killed General Stroessner twenty years ago and may still know where he buried the Stroessner fortune. Whoever controls that fortune, controls the future of Paraguay. Serious stuff, indeed.

Family Matters is the second in a series of three books (Family Secrets, Family Matters and Family Ties) about the Bertoni Family and their adventures in Paraguay.