Something chilling lurks underground, and two step-siblings must unite to uncover the truth in this “engrossing mystery” (Booklist).
Katie knows that something eerie is happening in the old, deserted town where she, her stepbrother, and her newly widowed mother are spending the summer taking care of Uncle Frank. Sometimes, when Katie puts her ear to the ground in Uncle Frank’s backyard, she hears a groaning noise that sounds almost human. But when a crippled ghost-girl appears to her out of the gloom in an abandoned mine, Katie is at once terrified and puzzled. Could the girl’s chilling appearance have something to do with a tragic mining accident thirty years before? In a fiery climax, Katie and her rebellious stepbrother learn the truth about the past and discover things about each other that strengthen their fragile relationship.
Betty Ren Wright (1927–2013) was the distinguished author of numerous books for young readers. Her thrillers, including The Dollhouse Murders, Christina’s Ghost, and Crandall’s Castle, have each won numerous state awards. In addition to her middle-grade mysteries, Wright has also penned more than thirty-five picture books for children, including The Blizzard, which appeared on state-award master lists and was named a Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year. In 2006 she was honored as a Notable Wisconsin Children’s Author by the Wisconsin Library Association.