Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I’ve had Heather Vogel Frederick’s Absolutely Truly (A Pumpkin Falls Mystery) checked out of the library for who knows how long–and isn’t that the story of my life? Anyway. I think my friend Andrea may have recommended it to me, or at least brought it to my attention, and when I heard the premise–girl and her family move into a small New England town and girl embarks, among other things, on a quest to solve a decades-old and somewhat literary mystery–I checked it out immediately. Ostensibly, of course, because my oldest loves mysteries, but really, of course, because of New England. (Also the story of my life.) Interestingly enough, that part was mixed for me, because Truly Lovejoy is thrilled to be settling in Austin and not at ALL happy when her father is wounded by an IED and their family ends up in his childhood home in New Hampshire. Intellectually I can accept that some people may (okay, do) prefer Texas to New Hampshire, but emotionally, I am unable to conceptualize it. Truly complains about their move off and on all book long, and I couldn’t relate. (To be fair, she is obviously much more upset about her father’s injury and his emotional recovery.)

Anyway. I did enjoy Truly’s family’s bookstore–indeed, I enjoyed Truly’s family–and the mystery was interesting without being unrealistically dangerous. Reading about covered bridges and old farmhouses will always make me homesick, but Absolutely Truly was an enjoyable read, and middle graders (girls more than boys) ought to like it.*

*Except, of course, it was actually a listen; it sat on my shelf until the library acquired it in audio, as so many things do. Thank heaven for audio!