HATTIE ON HER WAY

“All of society have dark, unmentionable secrets,” Grandmother tells Hattie Belle Basket, whose father has placed her in Grandmother’s care. Hattie feels like a hawk blown off course living with Hortensia Holmes Greymoor after her wild rafting adventure in the previous Hattie outing, Hill Hawk Hattie. However, the gumption learned from her logger father pays off when Hattie has to survive in the genteel society Mrs. Greymoor inhabits. As in any close social circle, rumors and gossip abound, some connected to the mysteries in Hattie’s own life: What exactly was wrong with her now dead mother? What’s the mystery behind her grandfather’s disappearance? Was he murdered and buried in the garden? Hattie will have to prove she’s a hawk that doesn’t falter even when in a storm, as she deals with the protocol of polite society. With rich, descriptive prose and solid characterization, Clark successfully develops a hugely satisfying mystery and family story with a perfect ending. (Fiction. 9-13)