Emmeline "Emmy" Willick is happy kicking balls and scoring goals on the soccer field in Connecticut until her mother sends her away to Wellsworth--a boarding school in England.
'making friends had never been [Emmy's] strength. That would involve talking to people.' (p. 4)
How will a timid introvert like Emmy survive living with her peers?
Emmy's life is one big question mark. Why did her mother choose to send her to Wellsworth? Does it have anything to do with her father? Emmy's father left when she was three-years-old. One of the only things she knows about him is that he meet Emmy's mom in England. She doesn't know if he's alive or dead. So if he's alive, she wonders where he is? If he's dead, how did he die?
The mystery is like a frayed thread the more she pulls on it the longer it gets.
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Published by Sourcebooks Young Readers
Published in 2020
Won the Silver Birch Fiction Award
I choose to read The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane because I'm currently writing a novel for readers of middle grade fiction and wanted to learn more about the genre. I was rewarded with not only an intriguing mystery but also with an enduring, relatable character--Emmy--who grew through the course of the novel.