An endnote explaining the enduring mystery of the chapel staircase will leave readers pleasantly intrigued. Fortunately, the highly charged description of the Wild West town (and a subplot involving Jesse James) and Lizzy's relationships with the adult characters prove colorful and lively. The dynamics among the girls seem reductive, especially the tense exchanges between Lizzy and the villainously manipulative Elinora, whose evil deeds include poking out Lizzy's kitten's eyes with an embroidery needle. All from 0.99 New Books from 3.87 Used Books from 0.99 Rare Books from 33. ''Saint Joseph will think we have no faith in him!'' one of the girls angrily tells Lizzy. Inspired by the legend of the 'miraculous' staircase in the Chapel of Loretto in Santa Fe, Ann Rinaldi skillfully blends the mystery surrounding the staircases builder with the daily trials of a spunky 13-year-old girl growing up in the late 1870s. Humility was everything, though all the girls preened and boasted and glowed when they got praise from the nuns.'' She is also baffled at the convent's conundrum: the nuns are praying to Saint Joseph for help finishing their newly constructed chapel, which lacks a staircase to the choir loft Lizzy simply finds a carpenter, the disheveled vagrant Jose. Pragmatic Lizzy, who is Methodist, chafes at the hypocrisy and injustice she observes: ''To have pride was a sin. After her mother dies on the Santa Fe Trail, 13-year-old Lizzy Enders is deposited by her father in a Santa Fe convent school-without even saying good-bye. 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. Ascending twenty feet, it makes two complete 360 degree revolutions to the choir loft. Rinaldi (The Coffin Quilt) delivers another winning historical novel, this time turning to New Mexico in the 1870s. The Loretto Chapel staircase is a miraculous feat.

The staircase by ann rinaldi