About this item
Twelve-year-old Mary Hayes can't stand her orphanage. But when an attempted escape doesn't go quite as well as she'd hoped, Mary fears she'll be stuck in the Buffalo Asylum for Young Ladies forever. The very next day, a mysterious woman named Madame Z appears at the orphanage requesting to adopt Mary. The matron's all too happy to get the girl off her hands. Soon, Mary is fed a hearty meal, dressed in a clean, new nightgown and shown to a soft bed with blankets piled high. She can hardly believe she isn't dreaming! But when Mary begins to explore the strange town nearby, she learns a terrifying secret about Madame Z's identity. If Mary is not careful, her new home might just turn into a nightmare.
About the Author
* Author of middle grade and YA fiction.
* Grew up just outside of New York City, an only child, a Scorpio, a bookworm.
* Majored in English at Yale, in hopes of becoming a poet.
* No poet jobs in the Help Wanteds so...
* Taught English at her own high school (only occasionally mistaken for a student) .
* Spent almost a decade as a journalist, including as a feature writer for Rolling Stone and an editor at The New Republic.
* Began writing middle grade and YA fiction as a Washington transplant homesick for her childhood in New York.
* Won the Edgar award for Best Juvenile Mystery for "The Night Tourist"
* Religion: lapsed astrologist (inspiration for the forthcoming, "Jepp, Who Defied the Stars" October 2012!)
