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    Absolutely Truly: A Pumpkin Falls Mystery
    Absolutely Truly: A Pumpkin Falls Mystery
    Absolutely Truly: A Pumpkin Falls Mystery
    Audiobook8 hours

    Absolutely Truly: A Pumpkin Falls Mystery

    Written by Heather Vogel Frederick

    Narrated by Amy Rubinate

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    An unsent letter in a first edition copy of Charlotte’s Web leads to a hunt for treasure in this heartwarming middle grade mystery from the author of The Mother-Daughter Book Club.

    Now that Truly Lovejoy’s father has been injured by an IED in Afghanistan and is having trouble finding work back home, the family moves from Texas to tiny Pumpkin Falls, New Hampshire, to take over Lovejoy’s Books, a struggling bookstore that’s been in the family for one hundred years.

    With two older brothers and two younger sisters clamoring for attention, her mother back in school, and everyone up to their eyebrows trying to keep Lovejoy’s Books afloat, Truly feels more overlooked than usual. So she pours herself into uncovering the mystery of an undelivered letter she finds stuck in a valuable autographed first edition of Charlotte’s Web, which subsequently goes missing from the bookshop. What’s inside the envelope leads Truly and her new Pumpkin Falls friends on a madcap treasure hunt around town, chasing clues that could spell danger.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIdeal Audiobooks
    Release dateJun 1, 2015
    ISBN9781942907008
    Absolutely Truly: A Pumpkin Falls Mystery
    Author

    Heather Vogel Frederick

    Heather Vogel Frederick is the award-winning author of the Mother-Daughter Book Club series, the Pumpkin Falls Mystery series, the Patience Goodspeed books, the Spy Mice series, and Once Upon a Toad. An avid fan of small towns like Pumpkin Falls, Heather and her husband live in New England, close to where Heather grew up. You can learn more about the author and her books at HeatherVogelFrederick.com.

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    Reviews for Absolutely Truly

    4/5

    77 ratings10 reviews

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    • 4/5
      If you like this book, you'll probably like LAST IN A LONG LINE OF REBELS.
    • 5/5
      Such a heartwarming story. The setting is lovely and the narrator did a good job, I can almost picture myself wandering in Lovejoy Bookstore and in Pumpkin Fall
    • 4/5
      An engrossing story about moving, family changes, bookstores, and a mystery in a small town in New Hampshire. The narrator did a splendid job with the voices.
    • 3/5
      truly lovejoy is the third of five siblings in her military family and always feels lost in the shuffle, despite her looming height at only age twelve. now that her lieutenant colonel helicopter pilot father's retiring, the family is finally settling down, right down the street from their cousins in texas. but disaster strikes in afganistan mere days before truly's father is supposed to come home, and while he's alive, he comes back a different man entirely: no longer smiling, no longer laughing.

      so, they move to middle-of-nowhere pumpkin falls, new hampshire in the dead of winter, the tiny, frozen town where truly's father grew up, to take over the struggling family bookshop, lovejoy's books. initially miserable, truly finds herself reluctantly enjoying this town – working at the bookshop, birding, and making unexpected friends that solve mysteries together as the pumpkin falls private eyes.

      i enjoyed this book, especially the first two-thirds, but the ending dropped off a bit for me. the mystery wasn't as enticing an element as i expected, considering the book is labeled "a pumpkin falls mystery." there don't seem to be any stakes, and then the mystery sort of dissipates at the end.

      i wish more had been done with truly's father. very little was in the text other than bits here and there of him being stubborn about his injury. in addition, hatcher is pegged as truly's favorite sibling, but we get very little from him other than his trademark sunshine smile. a lot of the character fall rather flat, actually, even truly's group of friends. everyone has one standout trait, but that's pretty much it: from dancer cha cha to shy lucas to boy-crushing jasmine. while i enjoyed the friendship interactions, i felt the author could have delved a lot deeper.

      i do love the characters of aunt true, kindergarteners pippa and baxter, kitten whisperer belinda winchester, shakespeare enthusiast dr. calhoun, and truly's mother dinah. but i was disappointed that all my favorite characters were sort of shuffled off to the side (with the possible exception of aunt true); i really wanted to see more of them. i will likely read the next book, yours truly, primarily to see more of those characters.

      overall, though, this was a cozy, wintery read. love the minuscule town of pumpkin falls, the family bookshop, the charlotte's web reverence, the owls, the textured cover, etc. just wished for deeper character development and deeper complexities in the plot. 3.5/5 stars!
    • 5/5
      Just as warm and comforting as a cup of cocoa on a winter day. I loved this book. It is so refreshing to read about a functional family, smart and resourceful middle schoolers, and have it all set in a friendly, picturesque New England town. This is the kind of book you want to jump into and never leave. I will be recommending it heartily to all the girls in my fifth grade classes. If only the real world were more like Pumpkin Falls.
    • 4/5
      This was a super fun, adorable, lovable book! It's set in the teeny tiny town of Pumpkin Falls New Hampshire, and centers around a 12-year-old girl named Truly. She has a big family including 4 brothers and sisters.
      It deals with some serious stuff, her dad just came back from war and had to have his arm amputated. It gently covers some issues about PTSD.
      The family moves to NH to help run the family book store, which has been around for 100 years or so. While looking around the store, Truly finds a secret message hidden in an original copy of Charlotte's Web. From there, she goes on a fascinating adventure and makes new friends along the way.
      I really (truly) loved this book. :)
    • 4/5
      An enjoyable novel of family relationships and the ups and downs of change. Truly Lovejoy is a strong character with strengths and weaknesses who struggles with her feelings, but remains loyal to family and friends. I liked her spunk. Pumpkin Falls, New Hampshire epitomizes many a small community with a diversity of characters both quirky and likable, but most of all, a heart that pulls together during crises. My favorite character was Aunt True with her unflagging warmth, and positive attitude. She was the backbone of Truly's family. As a birder myself, I loved that Truly was a birder and finds happiness in birds even in the most difficult times. A recommended middle-grade novel. Includes a recipe for Aunt True's Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies and "Miss Marple's" Picks (a book list attributed to the bookstore dog, Miss Marple). Books on this list that I have read and enjoyed: Charlotte's Web, Little House on the Prairie, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and Owl Moon. I love when books are included in books!
    • 4/5
      A sweet little mystery focused on a military family with ties to a bookstore.
    • 3/5
      While I loved the characters and the setting of this young reader novel, I am not about the story line and the length. The mystery with the notes is interesting and Truly is a great character along with her collection of friends. I thought the story dragged in many spots and I found myself paging ahead to see if something would peak my interest. The book store setting and the reference to books and such was wonderful, especially Charlotte's Web, as that was one of my favorite books as a child. I could picture every scene in this story and that I did enjoy immensely. I just really struggle with the length and wish it would move along a bit more quickly.
    • 5/5
      Frederick has set up a great cast of characters, a fabulous setting, and a clever plot in this middle-grade children’s mystery. And the really lovely thing is that these characters and this setting are big enough to carry a series, which is where I sense she is going. And that’s Absolutely Truly good news.