Written by Ann M. Martin and published by scholastic Inc. is a heartwarming and eventful story about a normal 12 year old girl named Hattie. She learns about an un-talked about uncle, that eventually leads to a family tragedy.

In downtown Millerton lived Hattie. She lived in a boarding house with several tenants, which she helped her parents manage the house and cater to them. One day her life is flipped upside down when she is told about an uncle she never knew or heard about. Due to his school closing Adam was coming to live with his parents ( Hattie’s grandparents) which only lived down the street from her. Personally, If I had found out about a "long lost uncle" I don't know how I would truly react to that news. I might be excited or a little displeased that my parents haden't told me.

Adam is different, more specialy unique than different persay. Adam is my favorite character in this book beacuse he truly is a nice, geniue person, which is hard to find these days. Adam had autism, with that he had a way of looking at the world and reacting to it. I really connected to this character beacuse I once had an autistic friend, he was so nice and very much like Adam. Hattie and Adam grew very close and met a friend Lilah at a circus in town,they atended everyday togther. With many memories and good tmies things finally took a turn for the worst.
Adam one night ran away, with no luck from the police Adam was missing, until they found him in the granparents shed in the backyard. Adam had taken his own life by haning himself. The reasoning being that he wasen't totally wanted by his parents, and people just didn't understand him and called him a freak. Hattie and her family had to learn to cope with the loss and move on in their normal life and routines.

Another thing I had in common with this book and the character Hattie was that I had a couple of family members that had taken their own lives too. I didn't know one of them that well as Hattie but it was still a sad loss not only for me, but the ones who knew him better, such as my mom and dad. This was a really good book, I connected a lot to it and enjoyed reading it. I reccommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good family story or a truly touching story. Or even and adventure packed book, packed full of action in almost every chapter.