Title: One Came Home
Author: Amy Timberlake
Publisher & Year of Publication: Yearling, 2014
Genre: Mystery, Historical Fiction
Recommended Audience: Ages 11-13
Summary: One Came Home centers around the mystery of a missing girl name Agatha Buckhardt. Her sister Georgie refuses to believe the decomposed body they buried was that of her sister. She decides to travel to Dog Hollow, Wisconsin where Agatha was last seen. There she discovers another girl with similar physical attributes also went missing around the same time. After dangerous shoot out Georgie is brought home by Agatha’s fiancé. Upon returning home, Georgie learns Agatha did indeed runaway and is studying at a university in Wisconsin, and the missing girl’s mother returns to place flowers at the graveside of the buried girl.
Evaluation/Reflection: The book was a good mystery, but slow at times for me personally. The book discusses the time period and pigeon trade at length. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading mysteries and Westerns.
Memorable Literary Element: The use of protagonist Georgiana Buckhardt. Her character is multi-dynamic. She tried to control her sister Agatha, but in the end, she little to no control over her at all.
Illustrations: None, but the covers features a Midwestern scene with flocks of pigeons.
Review: To find out what really happened to her purportedly dead sister, sharpshooting 13-year-old Georgie Burkhardt and her sister’s one-time suitor Billy McCabe follow the trail of pigeon hunters and discover far worse going on near Placid, Wisconsin, in 1871. Georgie tells her story in a first-person narrative that rings true to the time and place. She is smart, determined, and not a little blind to the machinations of adults around her, including Billy, who has been sent by Georgie’s storekeeper grandfather to follow her and keep her safe. She does notice that Billy is well made, but this is no love story; it’s a story of acceptance, by Georgie, her family, and her small town. Timberlake weaves in the largest passenger pigeon nesting ever seen in North America, drought and fatal fires along Lake Michigan that year, a currency crisis that spawned counterfeiters, and advice on prairie travel from an actual handbook from the times. Historical fiction and mystery combine to make this a compelling adventure, and an afterword helps disentangle facts from fiction. – Booklist Review
Promotion Idea: Create a book trailer using Prezi, and have history teachers play it one day in class as students are learning about the late 1800s.
Acquisition: Public library, Scholastic book fair, or available on Amazon for $13.23 (hardcover).
Author: Amy Timberlake
Publisher & Year of Publication: Yearling, 2014
Genre: Mystery, Historical Fiction
Recommended Audience: Ages 11-13
Summary: One Came Home centers around the mystery of a missing girl name Agatha Buckhardt. Her sister Georgie refuses to believe the decomposed body they buried was that of her sister. She decides to travel to Dog Hollow, Wisconsin where Agatha was last seen. There she discovers another girl with similar physical attributes also went missing around the same time. After dangerous shoot out Georgie is brought home by Agatha’s fiancé. Upon returning home, Georgie learns Agatha did indeed runaway and is studying at a university in Wisconsin, and the missing girl’s mother returns to place flowers at the graveside of the buried girl.
Evaluation/Reflection: The book was a good mystery, but slow at times for me personally. The book discusses the time period and pigeon trade at length. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading mysteries and Westerns.
Memorable Literary Element: The use of protagonist Georgiana Buckhardt. Her character is multi-dynamic. She tried to control her sister Agatha, but in the end, she little to no control over her at all.
Illustrations: None, but the covers features a Midwestern scene with flocks of pigeons.
Review: To find out what really happened to her purportedly dead sister, sharpshooting 13-year-old Georgie Burkhardt and her sister’s one-time suitor Billy McCabe follow the trail of pigeon hunters and discover far worse going on near Placid, Wisconsin, in 1871. Georgie tells her story in a first-person narrative that rings true to the time and place. She is smart, determined, and not a little blind to the machinations of adults around her, including Billy, who has been sent by Georgie’s storekeeper grandfather to follow her and keep her safe. She does notice that Billy is well made, but this is no love story; it’s a story of acceptance, by Georgie, her family, and her small town. Timberlake weaves in the largest passenger pigeon nesting ever seen in North America, drought and fatal fires along Lake Michigan that year, a currency crisis that spawned counterfeiters, and advice on prairie travel from an actual handbook from the times. Historical fiction and mystery combine to make this a compelling adventure, and an afterword helps disentangle facts from fiction. – Booklist Review
Promotion Idea: Create a book trailer using Prezi, and have history teachers play it one day in class as students are learning about the late 1800s.
Acquisition: Public library, Scholastic book fair, or available on Amazon for $13.23 (hardcover).