Never To Be Told

December 1, 2006
Gr 6 Up-Two parallel stories unfold in this ghost story. Life for 12-year-old Asia in the small town of Cold Creek has been full of love and contentment. She was raised by Maddy and Ira, who are the only family she has ever known. All that suddenly changes the day Ira has a heart attack and their son comes to take care of things. Soon Harry is making arrangements for his parents to live with him for the winter and for Asia to be sent to Vancouver, where he has discovered her long-lost grandmother, Beth. The parallel story is told through passages from the diary of deceased Miranda Williams, in which readers learn of a mystery surrounding the death of her young daughter and the reason for the familys hasty departure from Cold Creek in 1914. Asia has always been drawn to the Williamss abandoned farmhouse and on her last visit before leaving for Vancouver, Miranda reveals herself to Asia and guides her to a little girls intact bedroom. Shortly after Asia goes to live with Beth, her world is turned upside down and she escapes dealing with her feelings of anger, fear, and distrust by agreeing to work for a very old woman, Mary Wintergreen. Eventually, she realizes that Mary and Miranda are the same ghost at different points in time. The book is a real page-turner, with strong, likable main characters."Donna Rosenblum, Nassau Boces School Library System, NY"

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