book I read in 2017 about a girl who's dad goes missing.

[Pineapple]

The girl's younger sister makes a pebble man because of a legend and she hopes the pebble man will guide the father home. The main girl (the older sister)'s mum is going to enrol her into a boarding school, but she doesn't want to go. She meets a boy and things happen (I think he's wanted?), and in the end she goes to the boarding school and separates from him.

The ending of the book is her getting a letter from him in the boarding school which contains a carved rock made by him.

I think the name had something to do with "tall grass" or "long grass", because her father used to own this tin shed where the daughter now spends a lot of her time (also the same shed that the pebble man was put outside). The tin shed is in a field with long grass, and there's a scene where the younger sister needs grass for the pebble man's hair, and the older sister tries to rip off the long grass, but it's too strong.

[Rainbowheart]

Is this book for kids, teens, or adults?

I notice your profile says you're in Australia. Do you think it was an Australian book?

[Pineapple]

Rainbowheart wrote: "Is this book for kids, teens, or adults?

I notice your profile says you're in Australia. Do you think it was an Australian book?"

I think it probably was. It was a book for (probably) tweens, since I was around that age when I read it.

[Rainbowheart]

Do you remember why the father went missing?

Was he the victim of foul play or an accident? Or did he abandon the family?

[Pineapple]

Rainbowheart wrote: "Do you remember why the father went missing?

Was he the victim of foul play or an accident? Or did he abandon the family?"
I don't really remember much about the father. I'm pretty sure it wasn't foul play or abandoning, he just went missing.

[Rainbowheart]

Jack of Spades?

Was it modern or historical? Do you remember if the father was eventually found?

[Pineapple]

It was modern day, and I'm not sure whether the father was found. I'm pretty sure they might've lived by the sea too, but I don't trust my memory on this.

[Rainbowheart]

Against the Odds?

Trouble on Tuesdays?

For the Forest of a Bird?

[Pineapple]

Unfortunately none of those books seem to be the one I'm looking for. One of the kind of major plot points was the girl's younger sister making a small man out of pebbles because of a myth. When the guy becomes friends with the girl, he learns the myth too. At the end of the book, the girl has to go to a boarding school and he sends her a pebble with something carved on it (I think it might've said "I love you").

Thank you so much for helping so far though :))

[Rainbowheart]

No prob, I just hope we can track it down for you!

Theodora's Gift?