Dear America: Behind The Masks - Hardcover

Patron, Susan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0545304377 ISBN 13: 9780545304375

Publisher: Scholastic Inc., 2012

Synopsis

Newbery Award-winning author Susan Patron brings her talents to the beloved Dear America series in this exciting story of a girl growing up in the Wild West, in a California gold mining town.

Growing up in the wild gold-mining town of Bodie, California, in the 1880s, Angeline Reddy has seen it all -- saloons, brawls, and a whole lot of desperation. When her father, Bodie's greatest lawyer, is declared murdered, Angie knows deep in her heart that he isn't dead and decides it is up to her to solve the mystery of what happened to him. But when her mother takes ill and a mysterious ghost appears, putting together the puzzle pieces seems impossible. Not to mention, a gang of vigilantes, the 601, is raging out of control, running folks out of town, and nobody seems safe. Will Angie, with the help of her friends Ellie and Ling Loi, and the mysterious and tragically handsome Antoine, be able to uncover the secret of her father's disappearance?

About this title

About the Author

Susan Patron is the author of many critically acclaimed novels for children including the Newbery Award winner, THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY; its follow-up book, LUCKY BREAKS; and the early chapter book MAYBE YES, MAYBE NO. She is a former librarian, now full-time writer. She and her husband live in a small cabin in the high desert of the Eastern Sierra of California.

Reviews

Patron returns to the locale of her Newbery-winning The Higher Power of Lucky (2006) in this Dear America series title set in Bodie, California, in 1880. Fourteen-year-old diarist and would-be dramatist Angeline Reddy does not believe her father, criminal lawyer Patrick Reddy, has been murdered. Convinced his disappearance is purposeful, Angie investigates his “demise” and tries to bring him back to their rough-and-tumble mining community. Assisted by friends, a dashing young Wells Fargo clerk, and the members of a local theater troupe, the witty and insouciant Angie offers a revealing look at frontier life—especially preoccupations with thespian entertainments, racial and social prejudices, and vigilante justice. This complex novel, featuring multidimensional characters, is related in formal Victorian prose; Patron’s style affects the tone of a comedic mystery/melodrama, well suited to the story’s theme that people often hide their true selves (both good and bad) behind disguises. Appended with historical notes, period photos, and directions for making masks, this should appeal to fans of Sid Fleischman’s Mr. Mysterious and Company (1962). Grades 4-8. --Kay Weisman

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From Dear America: The Boldest MaskI knew there was trouble when I lifted up the lid of my father's coffin and he wasn't in it...Of course Momma hadn't for one minute believed the report of Papa's murder, which was supposed to have occurred on the stairway between Molinelli's Saloon and Papa's law office on the floor above. This news was delivered last night by a young clerk from the Wells Fargo & Co. office who said his name was Remi Nadeau. He said "Madame" to Momma and "Miss Angeline" to me, and explained that Wells Fargo was deeply saddened by our loss, which was also theirs. Mr. Nadeau regretted that the knife used by the murderer had not been found and there were no other clues.I wasn't sure whether the loss he spoke of was Papa's life or the valise full of scrip, $10,000 of a special currency created by the Standard Consolidated Mining Company. Of course those Standard Dollars, as we call them, were stolen and are missing.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0545304377
• ISBN 13: 9780545304375
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304