Books with author Lea Wait

Angie's first auction may turn out to be her last—when she bids on a coat of arms that someone would literally kill to possess . . . Tagging along to an estate sale with her fellow Needlepointer, antiques shop owner Sarah Byrne, Angie Curtis impulsively bids on a tattered embroidery of a coat of arms. When she gets her prize back home to Haven Harbor, she discovers a document from 1757 behind the framed needlework—a claim for a child from a foundling hospital. Intrigued, Angie is determined to find the common thread between the child and the coat of arms. Accepting her reporter friend Clem Walker's invitation to talk about her find on the local TV news, Angie makes an appeal to anyone who might have information. Instead, both women receive death threats. When Clem is found shot to death in a parking lot, Angie fears her own life may be in jeopardy. She has to unravel this historical mystery—or she may be the next one going, going . . . gone . . .

Angie's first auction may turn out to be her last—when she bids on a coat of arms that someone would literally kill to possess . . . Tagging along to an estate sale with her fellow Needlepointer, antiques shop owner Sarah Byrne, Angie Curtis impulsively bids on a tattered embroidery of a coat of arms. When she gets her prize back home to Haven Harbor, she discovers a document from 1757 behind the framed needlework—a claim for a child from a foundling hospital. Intrigued, Angie is determined to find the common thread between the child and the coat of arms. Accepting her reporter friend Clem Walker's invitation to talk about her find on the local TV news, Angie makes an appeal to anyone who might have information. Instead, both women receive death threats. When Clem is found shot to death in a parking lot, Angie fears her own life may be in jeopardy. She has to unravel this historical mystery—or she may be the next one going, going . . . gone . . .

Antique print dealer Maggie Summer's making big changes in her life. She's taken a sabbatical from her college teaching job and moved to the coast of Maine to run an antique mall with Will Brewer, her significant other, and is finally hoping to adopt the daughter she's been hoping for. However, the troubled girl referred to her doesn't want any part of the plan, showing affection only for harbor seals, which remind her of her "real mother." Maggie's distraught when someone starts shooting the seals -- and the a young fisherman is murdered. When Will then confesses a secret from his past, she begins to wonder if moving to Maine is the biggest mistake of her life.Publisher's Weekly: "Wait paints a vivid picture of life in coastal Maine ... (and) tackles the topic of adoption with empathy and nuance."Barbara Ross (author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries): "Shadows on a Morning in Maine kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end."Edith Maxwell (author of Delivering the Truth): "Author Wait frames this multi-layer story as expertly as Maggie frames prints - you won't want to stop reading!"

At fourteen, future chef Mikki Norden is ready for any kitchen emergency - except the unexpected death of her mentor, Mr. Baldacci. But Mikki's learned a lot about solving crimes from her mother, an almost-published mystery author, so when the local New Jersey police rule Mr. B's death a heart attack, she know she has to prove otherwise, even if she's a very amateur detective.Mikki grows up fast as she discovers secrets surrounding Mr. B and his restaurant ... and within her own family. Wacky characters and situations make this a memorable coming-of-age mystery for readers of all ages.

It's 1777. The fate of the American Revolution is in serious doubt, and new immigrants fourteen-year-old Rory Campbell and his sister Sarah want to be part of the excitement. Their older cousins are already working for independence - Malcolm in the army, and Hugh in the Seacoast Defense, protecting the coast of Maine.But neither of them ever dream the critical roles they will each play in the war after Sarah goes to live with a Royalist widow upriver in Wiscasset, where spies are everywhere and the British Navy is all too close by, and Rory runs away to join the York militia, headed for Saratoga, New York, to reinforce the army on the Hudson River for the first critical battle of the Revolution.Rory's and Sarah's stories alternate, as they see the war and their new country from different places...and find that their courage and bravery can make major differences to the future of their new nation.

Maggie Summer is making big changes in her life. The antique print dealer has taken a sabbatical and moved to Maine to run an antiques mall with Will Brewer, her significant other. And she will finally adopt the daughter she’s been longing for. However, the troubled girl doesn’t want any part of the plan, showing affection only for the harbor seals, which remind her of her “real mother.” But someone starts shooting the seals—and a young fisherman is murdered. Then Will confesses a secret from his past, and Maggie begins to wonder if this is the biggest mistake of her life.

It's 1777. The fate of the American Revolution is in serious doubt, and new immigrants fourteen-year-old Rory Campbell and his sister Sarah want to be part of the excitement. But neither of them ever dream the critical roles they will play in the war after Sarah goes to live with a Royalist widow upriver in Wiscasset, where spies are everywhere and the British Navy is all too close by, and Rory runs away to join the York militia headed for Saratoga, New York, for the first critical battle of the Revolution. Rory's and Sarah's stories alternate as they see the war, and their new country, from different places...and find that their courage and bravery can make major differences to the future of their new nation.

Three young people, their Highland home burned by the British, struggle to survive in the slums of Edinburgh in 1846, already full of refugees from the Irish potato famine and the industrial revolution. Dreaming of America, fifteen-year-old Meggie finds a job as a hotel maid. Kirstie, only four, huddles in a dark room to be safe. And twelve-year-old Rab must make his contribution to their future by learning the ways of the streets, and of the boys who live there. Will their determination be enough to save them? Or will their hopes, and lives, end in Edinburgh?

What do you do when you don't have a home or a family to call your own anymore? Eleven-year-old Abigail is not entirely sure how she'll do it, but after losing her mother to smallpox and her father to the sea, she knows that it is up to her to build a new life for herself and her little brother, Seth. But carving a future out of the harsh realities of life in Wiscasset, a nineteenth-century Maine seaport, proves difficult, and Abigail fears that there will always be more questions than answers. How long will they be able to stay and work for the young Widow Chase? Will Seth be able to let go of the past? As the months roll by like waves on the sea, Abigail searches tirelessly for a solution and for an answer to the question she holds most dear: Will they ever find a place to call home again?

On September 7, 1804, Charleston, South Carolina was devastated by one of the worst hurricanes of the 19th century. In this 30-page short story, thirteen-year-old Michael Lautrec confronts the storm as he searches for his father in the city streets and on its wharves, not realizing he and his mother are also in danger, and that this day will change his life. Based on first-person accounts of the storm, The Charleston Hurricane of 1804 is a story complete in itself - but is also the prequel to Seaward Born, Lea Wait's novel which tells the rest of Michael's adventures. Ann Rinaldi called Seaward Born "Thoroughly absorbing! It held me from beginning to end." Award-winning author and historian Lea Wait will pull you into the past, its dangers, and its challenges.

"WHAT HAPPENED THIS AFTERNOON IS TOO TERRIBLE TO WRITE. . . . PLEASE, GOD, LET WILL LIVE. AND, PLEASE, GOD, FORGIVE ME." All Will Ames ever wanted to do was farm. But when he's injured in a farm accident, Will is left without a leg -- and without his future. There's no place on a farm for a cripple. And so, after a long winter of healing, Will and his sister Cassie, who blames herself for the accident, go to stay in town with their older sister and her husband. There, as Maine becomes a state, Will learns that perhas even without his leg, there's another, brighter future in store for him. And Cassie, too, learns that maybe, in the changing world of 1820, Will isn't the only one with the chance at a different, exciting future. . . .

"Sometimes a man has to risk everything to do what's right. Doing it is what makes him a man."Thirteen-year-old Michael knows he is lucky. Few slaves in 1805 Charleston are where they want to be. But Michael works on the docks and ships in Charleston Harbor, close to the seas he longs to sail. Life seems good. But when Michael's protective mistress dies, everything changes, and Michael's friend Jim encourages him to run away. Michael is torn. Should he risk everything for a chance at freedom in some unknown place? Or should he stay -- is staying safe worth staying a slave?