“A sweet, heart-squeezing story!” — Jaleigh Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of The Mark of the Dragonfly\
When seventh grade enemies research a missing set of jewels for a class project, they realize that the answers to the unsolved case might be much closer to home than they thought in this fun-filled mystery “as satisfying as hot soup on a cold day” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).\
If you told Sloane Osburn and Amelia Miller-Poe that they’d be hiding in their town cemetery from an evil mastermind, they would have been hard-pressed to believe you. If you also told them that person was intent on beating them to a cache of long-lost jewels using nothing more than a slingshot and wicked aim, they’d have been sure you got your facts wrong. Finally, if you told them they’d be doing all of this as friends…well, they would have been sure you needed medical attention.\
Whether through serendipity (really, really good luck) or zemblanity (really, really bad luck), someone tricked their teacher into using their seventh-grade class to investigate the mystery of their town’s long-missing treasure. From there, things have escalated. Quickly. Now, the girls are stuck hiding behind a gravestone, dodging acorns (who knew acorns could be so threatening?), and just a few clues short of those jewels.\
It’s up to these enemies-turned-partners to uncover centuries-old clues to find the treasure at the end of this book before the mysterious person on their trail can get to it first…\
From School Library Journal\
Gr 5–7—Familiar themes of adolescent angst, mean-girl shenanigans, budding friendship, and the loss of a parent thread through a complex mystery. Dramatic, flamboyant Amelia Miller-Poe feels like a misfit in her perfect family; volleyball star Sloane Osburn misses her deceased mother and feels uncomfortable in the sports crowd. Both are unlikely partners in a seventh grade assignment to discover the location of jewels missing for 130 years from an estate in their Ohio town. Their research leads them to an old mansion, now a bed-and-breakfast, and the discovery of clues about two feuding families whose descendants are seemingly long gone. Working together, at first reluctantly, the girls form a tentative bond that must withstand interference from a classmate looking to sabotage their fragile friendship and exploit their work in completing the assignment. Lurking behind it all is an unidentified, menacing character who ultimately confronts the girls just as they are about to find the jewels. An included cast of characters at the beginning of the book is necessary to keep straight the multigenerational players in the mystery, and the ending suggests the possibility of a sequel or series. Amelia and Sloane are both cued as white. VERDICT An unlikely premise that nevertheless conveys a positive message about loyalty, belonging, and friendship.—Marie Orlando

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    • Friendship, Social Skills & School Life
      
      
      • Friendship
        • Fiction