Secret History of Tom Trueheart — Ian Beck

Tom's six older brothers take after their father. Tom does not.

The brothers are adventurers who go on dangerous quests in the Land of Stories. Tom stays home with his mother.

Tom's brothers are famous for the exciting endings they discover for the tales the Story Bureau assigns to them. Tom worries he will never have a story of his own.

But when his brothers fail to return from their adventures in time to celebrate Tom's twelfth birthday, a letter from the Story Bureau arrives . . . addressed to Tom. It is up to him to find out why his brothers haven't completed their missions.

Tom packs his bags and kisses his mother good-bye. It turns out that he has his own story after all -- and you are about to read it.