An Agatha Award nominee for Best Children's/Young Adult Mystery and a WILLA Award finalist for Best Children's/Young Adult Book: In 1867, a twelve-year-old girl faces danger and disaster when she moves to the Colorado Territory with her widowed mother, who is hoping to start a newspaper Emma Henderson's mother has changed since her father died fighting in the Civil War. First, she starts wearing an embarrassing bloomer costume-trousers under a short skirt. Then, she forces Emma to move to the far-off Colorado Territory so she can be editor of a newspaper! When Emma hears someone whistling her father's favorite tune as they prepare to leave Chicago, she knows it's a bad omen. The hardscrabble mining town of Twin Pines is very different from Emma's former home in the city. Instead of having a house of their own, she and her mother must live in a boarding house. Worst of all, it's clear from the moment they step off the stagecoach that someone doesn't want them there. A troublemaker tries hard to sabotage the newspaper, and Emma continues to hear eerie whistling in the night. Is it the ghost of her father? With the help of her new friend Jeremy, Emma sets out to solve two baffling mysteries. This ebook includes a historical afterword.
"A page-turner for young and old. The intrigue of the mystery, the background of the mining town, and the lessons on the Women's Dress Reform Movement are woven together to keep the readers' interest. Teaches as well as captivates the reader."
Women Writing the West
"Exciting storyline, historical accuracy, beautiful illustrations and a 'Peek into the Past' section at the end of the book that provides in-depth and entertaining context. Adults interested in suffragists and 19th-century women newspaper editors will want to borrow this book from their daughters."
