Books
for Middle Grades and Young Adult Readers
by
Kathy Lynn Emerson
***************************************
now available in new editions
THE MYSTERY OF HILLIARD'S CASTLE
This was my first
published novel. It came out in 1985 from Down East Books.
I've made a
few revisions but have not updated the story, which is set in 1982.
Click here for links to buy the e-book
$4.99
ISBN 978
1393375173
also
available as a paperback
$9.99
ISBN 978
1393157151
click here
for Amazon link
Kerry Odell and her younger brother Lyle
are not enthusiastic about spending the next six months in rural western Maine.
It seems like a pretty dismal place, especially in March, and means entering a
new school in mid-year. The house their mother has rented, with its locked
tower, has all the makings of a haunted "castle" with mysterious
comings and goings, odd noises in the night, and a landlord who seems to have
it in for them.
Reading level 4.9; recommended for readers
age 8-12 (but some grown-ups have enjoyed it, too)
from the reviewers:
WonderWomenSixty.com: "Ms. Emerson's writing is authentic and
completely flawless. She is able to understand what goes through the minds of younger
children. She understands their concerns, their anxieties, their innermost
feelings—and she mixes them all together to come up with a wonderful,
engrossing mystery for older children and younger teens."
Marilyn Blowen, Lisbon Falls Community
Library: "Emerson writes with suspense and spins a clever plot."
THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING BAGPIPES
This
was originally published by Avon Camelot Books in 1991.
I've
made minor revisions but the story is still the same and is set in 1986.
Click here for links to buy the e-book
$4.99
ISBN 978
1393694007
also
available as a paperback
$9.99
ISBN 978
1393724643
click here
for Amazon link
Spending three weeks in rural
Maine listening to the sound of bagpipes isn't 12-year-old Kim Hanlon's idea of
fun, but her father has signed up to attend classes in playing that instrument
at the estate of an eccentric millionaire and he's brought his family with him
to the adjacent campground. When a valuable set of antique bagpipes disappears,
Kim's new friend Woody is suspected of the theft. Refusing to believe he's
guilty, she's determined to discover who really committed the crime.
Reading level: 5.2
from the reviewers:
Bangor Daily News: "an excellent summer choice for that niece
or nephew."
Booklist: "Emerson weaves much food for thought into the
narrative through Kim's willingness to trust in Woody and her search to
understand her own goals and talents."
Here's what the original covers looked
like:
also newly reissued
JULIA'S MENDING
Originally
published by Orchard Books (1987) and Avon Camelot (1990)
Click
here for links to buy the e-book
$4.99
ISBN 978
1393031369
also
available as a paperback
$9.99
ISBN 978
1393594642
click here
for Amazon link
The year is 1887 and
twelve-year-old Julia Applebee has been shipped off to her cousin's home in the
small rural New York town of Liberty Falls while her parents go to China as
missionaries. Used to living in New York City, Julia wants nothing to do with
her "country cousins." To make matters worse, on her second day on
the farm she falls through the hay hole in the barn and breaks her leg. At
first, Julia has only one wish—to be rescued. But as her broken leg
mends, so does her attitude. Her anger and frustration slowly subside and she
begins to understand the importance of family.
from the reviewers:
Publishers Weekly: "Julia's recovery . . . parallels a deeper
change—adaptation to a new kind of family life and eventual friendship
with Grace, her "beastly" cousin. Julia's realization that she has
behaved in a snobbish, self-centered, unlikeable fashion—and her
subsequent maturity—is fully delineated and the 19th century
setting is effectively evoked. . . . well sustained . . . a light, seamless
style."
Reading level 4.9; for ages 8-12
Here are the original hardcover,
paperback and UK paperback covers:
newly released as e-book originals
SHALLA
Click
here for links to buy the e-book
$4.99
ISBN 978
1393529507
also
available as a paperback
$9.99
ISBN 978
1393660651
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for Amazon link
Set in Colonial Rhode Island
in the mid-seventeenth century, Shalla is the fictionalized
story of a real person, one of the children of Rhode Island founder Samuel
Gorton, who was known as "the New England firebrand." Because of his
religious and political beliefs, Gorton was kicked out of Plimoth
Plantations, Providence, and Pawtuxet before founding his own colony. He called
it Shawomet, although it is now Warwick, Rhode
Island. In 1643, soldiers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony attacked Shawomet and captured Samuel Gorton and some of his
followers, taking them to Boston to stand trial for heresy. No one knows
exactly where his wife and children were during the time he was in prison. This
is the story of what might have
happened to them, told through the eyes of one of his daughters, a girl with
the remarkable given name of Mahershallahashbaz.
KATIE'S
WAY
Click
here for links to buy the e-book
$4.99
ISBN 978
1393345992
also
available as a paperback
$9.99
ISBN 978
1393071365
click here
for Amazon link
Twelve-year-old Katie Brant is
used to getting everything her own way. She lives with her grandparents, two
uncles, and her Aunt Mattie on a farm/boardinghouse in the foothills of the
Catskill Mountains of New York State in the early 1920s. With the exception of
her formidable grandmother, everyone spoils her because her mother died when
she was born and her father is away for long stretches of time, working for the
O&W Railroad. But this year, as the tourist
season starts and the family, including Katie's cousins Nellie and Muriel, beds
down in the attic to make room to take in summer boarders, Katie's world
changes in ways that force her to take a hard look at herself and the way she
treats both friends and family. She soon learns that choices have consequences.
SOMEDAY
a novel of romantic suspense
available
in trade paperback for $9.99
ISBN
978-1-393-21640-7
(also
available as a e-book)
"Someday, Kristy, if you stay
just as sweet and innocent as you are now,
you'll make some lucky guy a great wife."
That's what the boy Kristy Russell is crazy about tells
her.
Insulted, sixteen-year-old Kristy embarks on a journey of
self-discovery, trying to figure out why he rejected her.
In the attempt, she comes to realize that her own
self-esteem
is more important than what anyone else thinks of her.
But will that knowledge enable her to make the right
choice
when a potentially life-altering decision is required of
her?
It isn't just her own future she holds in her hands.
set in 1992
Someday was once scheduled for publication by Silhouette Books' Keepsake line.
I was going to use the pseudonym Kaitlyn Gorton.
The line was discontinued before Someday reached stores, but there was a cover.
Frankly, I was glad this one was not used on my book.
There is no scene like this in the story.
NELLIE
BLY
a
biography
Originally
published by Dillon Press with the title Making
Headlines
as part
of their People in Focus series (1989)
Click
here for links to buy the e-book
$3.99
ISBN
9781393322290
also
available as a paperback
$6.99
ISBN
9781393712701
Aimed at young readers, Nellie Bly is the story of the
groundbreaking investigative reporter who was born Elizabeth Cochran. As
Nellie, she became famous for writing newspaper articles about controversial
subjects at a time in history when journalism was not considered a proper
career for women. She wrote about the deplorable conditions in factories and
prisons, went undercover to expose businesses that exploited newly arrived
single women and homeless children, and once spent ten days in an insane asylum
to expose abuses there. Then, in 1890, she became the most famous person in the
world by circling the globe in 72 days. Traveling by train, ship, mule cart,
and sampan, she beat the fictional record set in Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. In addition
to detailing Nellie Bly's professional achievements, this biography also tells
the story of her later marriage to a millionaire, her attempt at running a
business, and her experiences in Europe during World War I.
From the reviewers:
Booklist: "Highly readable."
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books: "Fascinating
reading."
The Book Report: "Emerson makes her
come alive without contriving events or dialogue."
Here is the original hardcover
cover:
