The House on Hemlock Hill

By Brittni Nelson

Forthcoming in July 30, 2026

A forgotten diary, a creepy neighbor, and rumors of a missing girl. What secrets are hiding in the house on Hemlock Hill?

Twelve-year-old Alyssa isn’t happy when she and her family move from Chicago to a neglected farmhouse on Lake Winnebago. While exploring their new home, Alyssa finds a hidden diary written by a girl who lived in the house in the 1950s. She’s eager to figure out who wrote the diary and why it was hidden—maybe Wisconsin won’t be so boring.

While reading about farm life in the diary, Alyssa navigates her own new rural life. She struggles to fit in at school, her mysterious elderly neighbor seems to watch her every move, and she hears rumors about a girl who went missing decades ago from the house on Hemlock Hill.

The diary entries soon take a dark turn when the girl’s friendship with a questionable classmate falls apart and troubles with her father begin. Then the entries suddenly stop. Alyssa searches for answers and finds herself in the middle of a seventy-year-old unsolved mystery.

 

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Advance Praise for The House on Hemlock Hill

“The House on Hemlock Hill is full of unexpected turns, a mystery across time that kept me guessing from start to finish.”—Eric Huang, author of the Guardians of the New Moon series

“A little scary. A lot mysterious.”—Kelly Flanagan, author of Holding Onto Courage and former educator

“Suspense, mystery, and a lovable character. This is just the book to get your middle schooler excited about reading.”—Melissa Ebert, middle-school literacy teacher

“This intriguing and heartfelt mystery is a page-turner!”—Jane Chalifoux, educator and literacy advocate

About the Author

Brittni Nelson is a middle-school art teacher in Wisconsin. She and her family live in a one-hundred-year-old farmhouse that overlooks Lake Winnebago, which inspired The House on Hemlock Hill. When Brittni isn’t busy teaching or driving her children around, she loves to read, travel, and go to the theater. Brittni has illustrated and self-published two books: Grammy’s Quilts and Papa’s Cottage. She has a bachelor’s degree in fine art and a master’s degree in teacher leadership.