Description
Product Description
From ghost story master Mary Downing Hahn, the haunting tale of a mysterious doll discovered in a young girl's garden, and its owner, a girl from seventy years in the past, who wants it back.
A suspenseful story of unexpected connections between present and past. Ashley and her mother need their new apartment to work out, but everything Ashley does seems to upset the irritable and unforgiving landlady. When Ashley makes friends with the girl next door, Kristi, they uncover a wooden box containing a well-loved turn-of-the-century doll. Ashley wants to keep the doll for herself, but Kristi has other ideas. So does the doll's original owner, a girl who died decades ago, but whom Ashley meets when she follows a mysterious white cat through a hedge. Can Ashley bring peace to the girl and resolve her own present-day challenges?
Review
"Hahn uses her satisfyingly mysterious, spooky story to illuminate the interaction of people in the present. . . . Thoughtful, entertaining fare for the middle grades." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A captivating fantasy that explores friendship, grief and the interconnectedness of events in time." — Publishers Weekly
From the Author
When I wrote this book, I was a librarian in the children's room at the Laurel Public Library in Laurel, MD. A man brought in an exhibit of things he'd found while he was restoring an old house. The one that really caught my eye was the head of a ceramic doll. She had no hair, no eyes, and, of course, no body, but her face was beautiful. Her label said, "Antique Doll's head, manufactured in Germany around 1898, dug up in the rose garden." I wondered who buried the doll in the garden and why. My book is the answer to my question.
About the Author
Mary Downing Hahn’s many acclaimed novels include such beloved ghost stories as Wait Till Helen Comes, Deep and Dark and Dangerous, and Took. A former librarian, she has received more than fifty child-voted state awards for her work. She lives in Columbia, Maryland, with a cat named Nixi.