Boarding School Mysteries

Lonely and a long way from her Iowa home, twelve-year-old Jeri McKane reacts to boarding school the way most middle schoolers would. Even with close friends, she wonders whether her scholarship to prestigious Landmark School was worth it. She's tempted to give up when her Mom can't make parents' weekend, and the school bus carrying her roommate, Rosa, disappears. But this reporter for the sixth-grade newspaper has an eye like Nancy Drew and more faith and courage than she realizes. Jeri solves the mystery, and makes landmark decisions to trust God and his Word through circumstances and feelings that don't make sense.

When Jeri McKane is blamed by her best friend Rosa for using a secret against her, Jeri's world is turned upside down. Unless the real blackmailer is found, Rosa could be expelled from Landmark School and her starring role in Cinderella given to a snobbish seventh grader. Worse still, Jeri could lose her best friend's trust just when things with her own absentee father are heating up. Why does everything have to be so complicated - and where is God when you need him? Middle schoolers will identify with Jeri and her friends as they solve this mystery and learn valuable lessons about truth-telling, faith, hope, and love.

Abby Wright, with her cute English accent and cool way of saying things, is Jeri McKane's biology lab partner and close friend. When a mysterious explosion in their lab sends Abby to the hospital, Jeri's sleuthing nose smells more than just smoke. Can she unravel the mystery before anyone else gets hurt, and worse yet, is the firebug at Landmark School targeting her? Danger and mystery abound for the group of middle-school friends as they are faced with the daily choice to trust God or give into their fears in the face of overwhelming challenges.

When a group of Jeri McKane's friends help Abby present a birthday dinner for her home-ec project, the party ends up in the trashcan... literally. Is it just an unfortunate event, or have the friends been intentionally poisoned? Jeri's instinct says something isn't right, and the girls follow a trail that leads to some not-so-sweet evidence. Tween girls can wonder why God doesn't step in when meanness and injustice happens. This story helps them see how he often uses ordinary people to help uncover the truth!