SOLVED. girl's dad falls from ladder in garden and dies - moves to a small town & meets a new girl whose name is in the title! [s]

[Michelle]

this has been bugging me for years, i read a book in around 2004/2005 when i was about 9 or 10 that i think was in first person perspective of a girl whose father had died falling from a ladder in their garden (i also think he was trying to trim a rose bush? or some kind of plant) and so moved with her mum to a different town into a rundown cottage/house. i remember that the main character said something along the lines of missing her 'power shower' back home. i think the mc also had to go outside when it was raining to go to the bathroom because it was in an outhouse of some sort and spiders liked to live there. she ended up meeting a girl around her age (i'd say the main character would be around 12-14 maybe) who had a fairly unusual name that featured in the title of the book! and i think the name began with a "Z". the 'friendship' between these two girls is a main feature of the book. i seem to remember they're at a cliff edge at some point as well. sorry i can't be more specific, the beginning of the book is the only thing i can remember semi-clearly. i would say the book is targeted towards 10-14 year olds. i read it in paperback and i think the cover had a girls face on it in the corner. the last word of the title is the girl's name beginning with Z. no idea what genre this would be classed as, but it wasn't the type or genre of book i would usually read at that age (i.e. animal books) so it makes me think that it may have been recommended by school at some point. does anyone have any idea of the title? thanks!

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Was this set in the U.S. or some other country? Was the girl (or family) white, black, other? Anybody Jewish? Is the setting contemporary?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Crystal Garden? Not everything matches but the father did die in an accident and the girl and her mother move away.

Looking for a new beginning after her father's death, Eliza and her mother move to a backwater town in Missouri where Eliza's desperate attempts to be popular in her new school are thwarted by her growing friendship with the eccentric girl next door.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Secret Voice of Gina Zhang? Has the Z name in the title and a girl's face in the corner...

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

https://www.goodreads.com/series/7105...

There's the Zenda series.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Zillah and Me

review: "...had to move to get away from the place where Katie’s father has died. He died when he was cutting the Lilac tree and fell off of the ladder...."

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Seems unlikely we're going to hear from Michelle again so we'll call this Solved. Everything matches.