Twelve-year-old Samantha Whitaker isn't too happy about her parents' decision to fulfill their dream of opening a country inn. She despises the inn, calling it "the Ick." And she's not too fond of anything else in the small village either, including the antique shop, where she purchases a strange relic just to annoy her mother.
Her defiance comes to a head when she steals her parents' car-and crashes it after almost running over a strange chestnut-haired girl. As she regains consciousness, she wonders what happened to the girl, who'd been staring at her so unsettlingly. Had Samantha managed to avoid hitting her?
Strangely, no one knows anything about the mysterious girl. Samantha's search for answers leads her to learn about the history of the old inn, which was once inhabited by a local legend, a colorful woman who had been a benefactor of the town, inviting artists, musicians, poets, and great minds of the time to hold lectures and classes there. Some believe her spirit still haunts the inn.
Uncovering a paranormal puzzle with a few missing pieces, Samantha's journey takes her to surprising new places in this middle-grade mystery inspired by a real historical mansion.
About the Author: Roberta Worthington holds bachelor's degrees in print journalism and secondary English education and a master's degree as a reading specialist. She worked as a newspaper reporter, writing features, crime, and court stories, before teaching English literature for eighteen years, with the last eleven at the middle school level.
While she has told stories for as long as she can remember, whether those of others as a reporter or her own in her roles as teacher and mother, Relic is her first novel.
She enjoys many creative outlets, including drawing, music, and photography. She drew both the map and the floor plan in the front matter of this book.
Worthington lives in western New York with her husband and two daughters.
Please visit her blog at RobertaWorthington.blogspot.com.
