Dear America: Behind the Masks

Newbery Award-winning author Susan Patron brings her talents to the beloved Dear America series in this exciting story of a girl growing up in the Wild West, in a California gold mining town.

Growing up in the wild gold-mining town of Bodie, California, in the 1880s, Angeline Reddy has seen it all -- saloons, brawls, and a whole lot of desperation. When her father, Bodie's greatest lawyer, is declared murdered, Angie knows deep in her heart that he isn't dead and decides it is up to her to solve the mystery of what happened to him. But when her mother takes ill and a mysterious ghost appears, putting together the puzzle pieces seems impossible. Not to mention, a gang of vigilantes, the 601, is raging out of control, running folks out of town, and nobody seems safe. Will Angie, with the help of her friends Ellie and Ling Loi, and the mysterious and tragically handsome Antoine, be able to uncover the secret of her father's disappearance?

Susan Patron is the author of many critically acclaimed novels for children including the Newbery Award winner, THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY; its follow-up book, LUCKY BREAKS; and the early chapter book MAYBE YES, MAYBE NO. She is a former librarian, now full-time writer. She and her husband live in a small cabin in the high desert of the Eastern Sierra of California.