A Study in Secrets
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- £9.49
Publisher Description
Only Murders in the Building meets Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library in this “intriguing, fast-paced” (School Library Journal) novel about a girl pulled into a mysterious treasure hunt at her new boarding school.
Ever since her mom passed away, twelve-year-old Megumi “Meg” Mizuno has been spiraling. After too many low grades and cut classes, she’s been expelled from school—apparently, everyone else has moved past her grief and expects the same from her. Her dad secures her a spot at the prestigious Leland Chase Academy, a boarding school in middle-of-nowhere New York, called the Last Chance Academy by its student body. If Meg can’t make it work there, she’ll be forced to live with her horrible aunt.
At first, Leland Chase seems like an average, if very strict, boarding school, though Meg tentatively warms up to her roommate and some of their classmates. Then, one night, a mysterious envelope appears under her door, inviting Meg and her roommate to participate in a scavenger hunt. The only rules: don’t get caught by faculty or staff and no cheating. The grand prize? A luxury stay at a fancy resort in California. And after learning her dad has plans to sell their family home—with all its memories of Mom—Meg knows she has to win the competition and use the trip’s one-on-one time to convince Dad they shouldn’t move.
Thanks to her mom, who taught her how to solve ciphers, Meg has a knack for puzzles she uses to get ahead in the hunt. But she quickly learns that her classmates seem to have their own sets of skills keeping them in the competition. And as they get deeper in the game, Meg and her fellow competitors realize the anonymous creator has their own agenda…and LCA isn’t quite what it seems.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ever since her mother's death, Japanese American seventh grader Megumi Mizuno has felt like school is a waste of time. Following her latest expulsion, Meg is enrolled at strict, exclusive Leland Chase Academy, also known as Last Chance Academy among its small student body of misfits and troublemakers. Meg quickly befriends her white-cued roommate Tana and vows to keep a low profile until she can go home again—easier said than done in a place where "secrets are key" and the staff is ever watching. When students receive mysterious letters inviting them to participate in an illicit treasure hunt, Meg, who associates treasure hunts with memories of her mom, is wary but interested, especially as the reward is an all-expenses-paid winter break vacation. Despite being unable to fully trust anyone, Meg is forced to work with her classmates. And as the hunt progresses and competitors are eliminated, new friends in pursuit of their own goals are liable to become sworn enemies. In this twisty tale of secrets and riddles, Florence (Jasmine Toguchi, Great Gardener) explores issues of grief, guilt, friendship, and betrayal. Memorably rendered characters and an appropriately mysterious setting boasting hidden passages and lost history make for a brisk, clever series opener. Ages 8–12.
