Hetty

Veteran Hollywood Art Director Bill Camden envisions, "Hetty is perfect for a family television series or motion picture."

Julie's Review (Found on Goodreads) says: "This book was like a breath of fresh air. There was no profanity to contend with, yay. I love it if an author can manage to turn a clever phrase (not over kill) just something that makes me chuckle - or at least to earn an underline for future reference and delight. Example: "If I can't stop crying, maybe I'll end up like jellyfish do after they dry out in the sun till they're just paper thin like a piece of cellophane. Then if you held me up to the light, you'd see right thru me, because here wouldn't be anything in there anymore." There are many more I could cite.

The book left me wanting to read more on Hetty's life and lucky me there are more. It was so pleasant to enjoy such a book amidst our chaotic and often angst filled world. I would recommend it (maybe even to read with your pre-teen). Thanks Martha Sears West for your contribution to my library.

KIRKUS REVIEWS:Sixth-grader Hetty adjusts to a new school, finds a forest refuge, and learns the reason for a lurking stranger in West's first installment of a Truman-era YA trilogy.

Henrietta "Hetty" Annette Lawrence tries to pay attention in math class but daydreams about the word "hypotenuse." Born with a heart defect, now fixed by an operation, Hetty had been home-schooled in recent years by doting parents Dora and Daniel, the latter a lawyer who shares his tales of working in the Forest Service.

The family has moved to a new home to be close to Hetty's new school, the all-girls Haxton Country Academy. A bit shy around the others, she often hangs out in "Hannah," a mighty oak in nearby "Olive Witch" forest (the name comes from Hetty mishearing her father say "all of which"). While hurt when not invited to a birthday party, Hetty also makes strides in her new world, including befriending schoolmate Melinda Morganthal, who has a considerate (and handsome) older brother, and gaining some attention by winning a local spelling bee.

By novel's end, there is a growing sense that Hetty is being watched. A dramatic act of nature clears up this mystery, significantly changing her life.

West (Longer than Forevermore, 2013, etc.) includes an illustrated map and sketches of flowing-haired Hetty. While there is a sense of the time period, including mention of Daniel and Dora's new 1949 Studebaker, physical location is left a bit hazy, perhaps to reflect this delightful heroine's fanciful mind, although there's missed opportunity to more richly fictionalize a real destination as did Anne of Green Gables, this work's obvious influence.

Still, West effectively builds suspense for this book's final revelations, including shifting occasionally from Hetty's third-person perspective to plant hints via other characters' viewpoints.

Best of all, parents will appreciate the "clean" nature of this novel, which should still please a tweener audience given its tee-up of the romance no doubt to come in the next installment of this series.

Sweet teen girl adventures, reminiscent of Anne of Green Gables. - Kirkus Reviews

"Everyone should read this book!"-Anika Isom, age 13