Bailey Fish Adventures-an exciting series of mystery/adventures for ages 8 and up

The Wild Women of Lake Anna

The Wild Women of Lake Anna is a finalist in ForeWord magazine's 2005 Book of the Year for juvenile fiction!

Eleven-year-old Bailey Fish is abruptly sent from Southwest Florida by her mother to live with her grandmother, Sugar, in Virginia. While Bailey adjusts to the new surroundings, her grandmother is investigating the source of pollution in nearby Contrary Creek, where there used to be gold mining.

To complicate matters, a neighbor is out to get Sugar. He is the father of Justin Rudd, a bully on Bailey's school bus.

Justin's father doesn't upset Sugar because she comes from a family of "wild women." She proudly tells Bailey stories about all of them, including the fashionable Mae, who was a spy during World War I. Bailey's relationship with the Rudds is further complicated when she is asked by her teacher to help Justin's little sister with reading.

Inspired by Sugar's stories and what she finds in her grandmother's attic -- a secret box of letters and Mae's hat -- Bailey decides to become a wild woman herself. She heads into a dark woods to look for a former gold mine and gold nuggets for her school project. But what she discovers is not what she expects. . .

History includes the development of Lake Anna for the nuclear power plant, and gold mining in Central Virginia, especially Contrary Creek.

Here's an excerpt. Don't miss the excitement of the whole book

Behind her, the crackling of branches was closer and closer. [Bailey's] ankle burned with pain. I'm doomed, Bailey thought, as she lay down on the cold leaves, closed her eyes, and prepared to be eaten alive.

Bailey felt the bear licking her fingers as it got ready to take a bite. When she opened her eyes to have a look at the animal, Bailey screamed . . .

Readers' comments:

"I couldn't put it down. My favorite part was when she goes off into the woods and solves the mystery." Caitlin Hamlin, fourth-grader, Northern Virginia

"Bailey is a good character because her family is wild! Rachel read it too!" Sophie of Portland, Oregon