Secret of Light — K.C. Dyer

Short-listed for the 2004 Chocolate Lily Book Award Darrell Connor is back for another term at Eagle Glen, but is shocked to find that along with her friends Brodie and Kate, her nemesis, Conrad Kennedy, has enrolled at the school.

The memory of her recent visit to medieval Scotland is still fresh, and when Darrell and her dog, Delaney, investigate an abandoned lighthouse, they discover another route into the past. Lost in the magical beauty of Renaissance Italy, Darrell meets a young artist with fiery ambition named Leonardo Da Vinci.

Does Leonardo hold the key to resolving the tragedy of her own past? Ignoring the advice of a kindly stranger, Darrell embarks on a desperate journey to find the answers to her own fears, unaware of the price she and her friends will pay for dancing with time.