The continuing adventures of Hattie Belle Basket, the "hill hawk" sent by her father to live with her wealthy grandmother. When hard times descend on Grandmother Greymoor, Hattie loses her private tutor and must try to make friends at "common" school. She has a little trouble with the truth, and wrestles with some moral dilemmas as only a 12-year-old can. It all works out in the end, a little too neatly, but that could have been improved upon simply by introducing a particular character to us earlier in the story. Hill Hawk Hattie and Hattie on Her Way were better stories than this. If you have 10-13 year old readers in your house, check those out.
Review written in 2009 ( )

The cover had me expecting an old fashioned mystery. Not to be. Part of a series of books about the main character. ( )

Colleen Mondor reviewed this at Chasing Ray. She grabbed me with the comparison to my beloved Nancy Drew (the old ones!), but then she said that the mystery is overplayed by the "real" story of the book. Intriguing.

As her grandmother's financial situation worsens, Hattie is forced to attend a "common school," in late nineteenth-century Kingston, New York, where she stands up to a show-off, shares embellished stories about life as a rich girl, and tries to recover her family's wealth. ( )