"PALACE BEAUTIFUL," by Sarah DeFord Williams, Putnam, $16.99 (ages 10 and older)
Sadie and Zuzu Brooks are about to start the biggest adventure of their young lives.
It's the summer of 1985, and the girls are moving with their father and stepmother from Texas to Salt Lake City.
Their new house isn't exactly new; in fact, it's rather old and holds mysteries the girls could never imagine.
One day, while exploring the attic, Sadie comes across a secret room with the words "Palace Beautiful" painted on the inside, over an arched doorway. It's beautiful as it is, but that's not all the room has in store. There are also some treasures — a candle, a black-and-white photograph, a necklace and a beat-up journal.
Along with their neighbor friend, Bella, the sisters decide to secretly study the journal, each taking turns reading the story of Helen White, a teenager living during the 1918 influenza epidemic.
When the journal suddenly ends, the girls take it upon themselves to solve the mystery of what happened to Helen, and to find her if she's still alive.
Set in the Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake City, "Palace Beautiful" makes a fun read for locals.
Debut author Sarah DeFord Williams' prose is lyrical and sophisticated without being stuffy. And she deftly captures that awkwardness girls face as they make their transitions to young women with an honesty that will resonate with readers.
Though set in Salt Lake City, the emphasis here is not on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, though there are a few references, but rather on a cohesive and compelling story that has a more universal theme.
With chapter headings like "Fuzzy-Monster Green" and "Crackling-Rage Red," readers are primed from the beginning for an intelligent and entertaining look at two lives set some 60 years apart.
e-mail: jharrison@desnews.com