This middle grade novel was inspired by the author's visit to the plantation and her experiences there.Īt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Laurel Oaks is a thinly disguised version of the legendary Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana, which is on the Smithsonian's list of the ten most haunted places in America. Shifting back and forth from Lila's world in the present to Daphne's world in the past, the true story of what really happened that fateful night finally comes to light.

Daphne's spirit senses that Lila is the very person she's been waiting for, the one who can prove her innocence so her spirit can rest at long last. One spirit eager to tell her story is Daphne, a slave girl at Laurel Oaks in the 1840s, who was blamed for the poisoning deaths of two girls and their mother. But secretly, Lila suspects there are ghostly presences willing to communicate with her, and her alone. When Lila and her family visit Laurel Oaks Plantation in Louisiana, her parents and brother scoff at the claim that the house is haunted. Kobo eBook (September 1st, 2008): $11.A haunting historical mystery based on real life events, told in the alternating points of view of a contemporary girl and a 19th century slave accused of a horrible crime.Young Adult Fiction / Historical / United States / 19th Century.A terrific read.” - Sonia Levitin, award-winning author of Strange Relations, The Goodness Gene, and Dream Freedom Product Details “Lois Ruby's The Secret of Laurel Oaks is an intriguing mystery that takes the contemporary heroine (and the reader) on a spirited journey back and forth from a haunted house to the slave-owning family that once owned it.We are in capable hands with Ruby's deft story telling powers and her devotion to historical truths.

This is a genuinely spooky and engrossing ghost story, filled with fascinating historical detail.” - Jennifer Armstrong, award-winning author of The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan on The Secret of Laurel Oaks “If you read this book late at night, as I did, in a dark and quiet house, as I did, you may feel the same chill I did-the someone-is-looking-over-your shoulder chill.

The secret of laurel oaks by lois ruby