The Staircase, Paperback/Ann Rinaldi

How could Lizzy Enders's father abandon her at a girls school run by nuns? She's surrounded by Catholics--but she's MethodistShunned by the other boarders, Lizzy befriends a wandering carpenter named Jose, who with just three tools--and unflagging faith--builds an elaborate spiral staircase in the new chapel in mere weeks. When he disappears without a trace, Lizzy realizes that the way she sees things is not always the way they are. Inspired by the legend of the ``miraculous`` staircase in the Chapel of Loretto in Santa Fe, Ann Rinaldi skillfully blends the mystery surrounding the staircase's builder with the daily trials of a spunky thirteen-year-old girl growing up in the 1870s.