Return to the Page for Laurie Morrison at Valley Forge Middle School

A clever, funny multimodal mystery from author Laurie Morrison, about soccer teammates trying to solve the disappearance of their beloved team captain — and facing a few secrets of their own.

Why did Ella leave?

Eighth graders Sadie and Pug don’t have anything in common except for their love of soccer and their loyalty to Ella, the overachieving team captain. So when Ella doesn’t show up for the most important game of the season and her parents pull her out of school, Sadie and Pug are determined to find out what happened, even though they don’t usually get along. There’s no way Ella abandoned the team!

But as Sadie and Pug dig deeper, they begin to realize that Ella’s life wasn’t as perfect as it seemed. And maybe Sadie and Pug have a few secrets that need to come to light, too. Maybe all their classmates do…

Told in recordings, letters, texts, journal entries, and emails, Where Ella Went is a funny and absorbing slice-of-life mystery about friendship, teamwork, and the pressures of being in middle school. If Sadie and Pug keep searching for answers, they risk sabotaging the end of their soccer season. But can they ever move on if they don’t learn the truth? And what if Ella needs them even more than they need her?