Lonely and a long way from her Iowa home, twelve-year-old Jeri McKane reacts to boarding school the way most middle schoolers would. Even with close friends, she wonders whether her scholarship to prestigious Landmark School was worth it. She's tempted to give up when her Mom can't make parents' weekend, and the school bus carrying her roommate, Rosa, disappears. But this reporter for the sixth-grade newspaper has an eye like Nancy Drew and more faith and courage than she realizes. Jeri solves the mystery---and makes landmark decisions to trust God and his Word through circumstances and feelings that don't make sense.
Kristi Holl's first middle-grade novel was published by Atheneum (1983). To date, Kristi has sold 34 middle-grade books (29 fiction and 5 nonfiction) and Writer's First Aid, an adult book to help writers survive the writing life. (Eleven of her books are mysteries; her Haunting of Cabin 13 won the Maryland Children's Book Award.)
She loves being around other writers. Kristi is a frequent speaker at SCBWI conferences and taught at the Highlights Foundation Chautauqua writing workshop in 1998 and 2004. Kristi's Writer's First Aid blog has 40,000 subscribers. "I love keeping in touch with other writers this way," she says. "They encourage me every bit as much as I try to encourage them."
Kristi has three grown daughters and three perfect grandchildren. Iowa born and raised, Kristi moved to Texas in 2003 to be near her kids and grandkids. She and husband live in San Antonio. "I do miss the four seasons and the snow, and I still scream for help when I spot a rattlesnake or scorpion," she admits. "But I wouldn't miss being near my family for anything in the world. I started writing when my kids were babies and toddlers--now it's just come full circle."
With an elementary teaching degree and 25 years as an instructor of writing for children, Kristi's books have been nominated for numerous Children's Choice Awards.
