Secrets in Mystic Woods

In the small quiet town of Mystic Woods, thirteen-year-old Charity Graves begins her eighth grade at the town’s middle school. Ms. Hexon, Charity’s teacher, has a horrible reputation of being the meanest in the entire school, and Charity learns how true this is first hand. When she stands up to the belittling teacher, it thrusts Charity, normally a quiet loner into instant popularity. Despite the uncomfortable feelings of the unwanted attention from her peers, there is another feeling she just can’t shake—the aura of the teacher. The small woman seemed bigger than life. She seemed like so much more than her frame suggested. Something was wrong, and Charity was going to find out what. Recruiting the help of her new friend Keith Nova, they begin an undercover investigation that leads them to more questions than answers.

While Charity and Keith are discovering Ms. Hexon’s secrets, they find out more secrets about some members of the community and an interesting link to Charity’s family. With all this new information, Charity doesn’t know what to believe or who to trust besides Keith. However, he too has his own secrets to keep and a very personal reason to get back at Ms. Hexon. As Charity navigates the secrets of Mystic Woods, she also learns a secret about herself, a secret her parents kept from her until they felt the time was right. Once Charity discovers the truth, she learns there is a much bigger threat than Ms. Hexon, a threat that she is going to have to take care of. And in order to do that, she is going to have to embrace who she is really is. The fate of her world depends on it.