Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Absolutely Truly: A Pumpkin Falls Mystery by Heather Vogel Frederick

What do you do when you find an old love note in a book?  In Truly's case, she goes on the hunt for the next note!

Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It was published earlier this month, so you can find a copy at your local bookstore now.

Truly's father has lost his arm from an IED in the war and he's also lost his sense of direction.  His plans for retirement have gone out the window.  You can't have a pilot with only one arm.  He decides to take his family back home.  He's inherited the house and business there, and all he needs to do is learn how to sell books.  He finds it's no easy job to sell books in a small town.  His sister is there, though, and she has some interesting ideas.

When dad goes back to the doctor to get a new arm fitted, his sister has the store spruced up.  She gathers the townspeople, tells them what she needs, and they all chip in to help.  She ends up with some reading chairs, new curtains, a fresh paint job and a redone floor.  

When they find a first edition of Charlotte's Web, dad thinks they'll make it with the income from that.  When it goes missing, he falls into depression.

Truly is tired of his moods and feels like the invisible kid in the family.  Her mom is working now, she has to care for her younger siblings and nobody asks how she's doing.  When she found a love note in Charlotte's Web before it goes missing, she decides she's going to search it out and find the others.  She has the new friends she made in town to help her.

This has the flavor of the old classics and is a sweet tale.  Truly finds unrequited love from the past in the notes, her father comes back to life and they all have a good future ahead of them.  Underneath the basic story line is a story of hope...

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