Palace Beautiful by Sarah DeFord Williams

Publisher:  Putnam Juvenile
Pages:  232
Source:  Library
Genre:  Middle Grade Mystery

Sadie, her sister Zuzu, father and pregnant step-mother have moved from Texas to Utah.  Sadie makes a new friend on her first day.  The new girl tells Sadie her name is Belladonna Desolation but she can call her Bella for short.  Bella tells Sadie to go into her attic that night and look out the window because she will be able to see the cemetery and some ghosts.  The next day Bella brings a box of kittens and checks to see if Sadie had seen any ghosts.  They go to the attic where they discover a crawl space with a journal in it.  Zuzu, like a lot of pesky sisters barges in and insist she be allowed to join them.  They take turns reading the journal together.  They learn about the author of the journal, Helen White and the flu epidemic that killed so many people.  The journal helps them deal with several issues in their own lives and presents a mystery for them.  How to find out what happened to Helen White.  This was a wonderfully written book.


(The opinions expressed here are mine and not those of the other panalists)