Kathryn Reiss

In 1878, twelve-year-old Ida Kate and her widowed father welcome a mail-order bride and her baby to their Kansas homestead, but Ida Kate soon suspects that the bride is not the woman with whom Papa has corresponded.

In 1970s San Francisco, Julie and her best friend Ivy learn about Chinese immigration in the early twentieth century when they investigate a mysterious doll theft.

Just before her mother is to remarry and her stepfamily is set to move in, twelve-year-old Zibby gradually realizes that her antique dollhouse is haunted by ghosts, one of whom is out for revenge.

CRIME & MYSTERY FICTION (CHILDREN'S / TEENAGE). Julie really likes the new girl in her class, Carla Warner. Still, there's something odd about her. The things Carla says don't quite add up, and she seems to avoid answering certain questions. At first Julie is sure there's a sensible explanation, but as Carla's stories become more outlandish, Julie can't escape a disturbing fact: either her new friend is lying -- or she's in real danger. Ages 9+

While trying to find a way for her elementary school to help fund the seabird rescue following an oil spill in the San Francisco Bay, Julie investigates the theft of rare guitar. Includes a "Looking Back" essay about benefit concerts in the 1970s.

"When Julie visits Gold Moon Ranch, a farming commune in California's gold rush country, the back-to-the-land lifestyle seems idyllic at first. But peculiar problems keep cropping up, almost as if someone was trying to shut down the commune! Then, on a secret trip to an abandoned gold mine, Julie stumbles on a mysterious message that hints at long-lost treasure. Julie is desperate to find it, before danger closes in on Gold Moon Ranch."--Publisher....