The Secret of White Stone Gate

December 15, 2019
Grades 4-6 The second book in the Black Hollow Lane series opens with Emmy's return to England for another year at Wellsworth, a boarding school, where she reunites with her best friends, Lola and Jack. Once again, Emmy is caught up in the mystery swirling around her long-absent father and her own dangerous exploits outwitting the evil thugs who are determined to find him. She also suffers when the villains frame Lola, have her expelled from Wellsworth, and threaten to kill her if Emmy doesn't cooperate. Though she has been warned to trust no one, Emmy can't solve this mystery alone. Jack and Sam, an attractive new student with useful hacking skills, become her main allies in her daring adventures. The question of trust becomes ever more central to the story line as Emmy struggles with it repeatedly, but it can be used to maintain suspense for only so long. While the story seems less compelling than in the series opener, readers who enjoyed pid ID=9661578The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane (2019) will want to know what happens next.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

February 21, 2020

Gr 4 Up-In this sequel to The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane, Emmy, back at Wellsworth and reunited with her friends Jack and Lola, is looking forward to a school year free from the nefarious secret society known as the Order of Black Hollow Lane. But when Lola is framed for a crime Emmy and Jack know she didn't commit, it becomes clear that the three tweens are still very unsafe. The Order wants the location of Emmy's father, and with mounting threats against her friends and family, Emmy scrambles to untangle her relationships and determine whom she can trust. She vows to clear Lola's name, but she may have to sacrifice someone else in her life to do it. With much of the setting located outside of Wellsworth, Emmy's second adventure loses some of its homey boarding school feel-but the breakneck pace, mystery, and intrigue remain as constant as in the first installment. Information from the first novel is woven throughout the initial chapters, providing a smooth return to Emmy's life in England. Although readers well versed in the twists of middle grade mystery may figure out the culprit of one or two deeds before the characters do, with so many surprises throughout, fans will be more than satisfied. Truth is at the center of Emmy's current predicament, and the story successfully explores this theme while tying up loose ends from the trio's previous Wellsworth exploits while still leaving room for the next book in the series. VERDICT A solid sequel with truth and trustworthiness at its core.-Maggie Mason Smith, Clemson University, SC

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2019
An American schoolgirl in a British boarding school battles a secret society in this adventure. In this trope-y sequel to The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane (2019), the students at Wellsworth must stay safe from the evil order that's been there for generations and still entangles their parents. Emmy, a white, well-to-do Connecticut 12-year-old, is determined to return to Wellsworth even though last year she was nearly killed. The Order of Black Hollow Lane, the mysterious bad guys who are disguised as the school's Latin Society, want something from Emmy. Her long-lost father, for one, and Emmy's box of medallions, for another. Why? Do they really need a reason aside from being an evil club full of wickedness determined to find a whole box of MacGuffins that will somehow make them even richer and more powerful or at least propel the plot? In any case the dastardly fiends plague Emmy, framing one of her best friends for theft and leaving cryptic notes and computer files to threaten the lives of Emmy's loved ones. Though the Order has infiltrated this (nearly all-white, wealthy) school for generations, Emmy must somehow defeat them and save her dad. The quest is peppered with spy-thriller moments that are mostly only thinly sketched and go nowhere, though some (such as a disguise right out of Scooby Doo cartoons) are funny enough to keep the action moving. Flimsily entertaining. (Adventure. 9-11)

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