Chasing Secrets

Lizzie Kennedy, thirteen years old, lives with her doctor father and older brother, Billy, in San Francisco. It is 1900, and the world is changing. Billy is saving to buy a horseless carriage and disappearing at night and coming home hurt. Lizzie has trouble making friends at the snobby finishing school her aunt insists she attend. Lizzie wants to go to medical school, not marry and raise a family, but science is not an acceptable path for a young lady. Rumors begin to fly about the plague being in San Francisco, and Jing, a favorite and most loyal servant of the Kennedy’s, disappears, and strange noises in the attic lead Lizzie to an astonishing discovery and further mysteries to solve.

Any writer who wishes to learn how to engage a reader from the first page would do well to read this riveting historical novel by Gennifer Choldenko. The subject matter is fascinating, the characters well-drawn, the conflicts believable and compelling, and the writing is mesmerizing. Any reader who likes historical fiction and mysteries will love this book. The story is complex and completely satisfying. Though marketed to the middle-grade crowd, this deserves to have a much larger audience.