The Secret Letters by Margaret Peterson Haddix - ADVISABLE

 The Secret Letters (Mysteries of Trash and Treasure #1) by Margaret Peterson Haddix, 360 pages. Katherine Tegen (Harper), 2022. $17 

Content: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

12 yo Colin is spending his summer helping his mom at her organizing business. When he finds a shoebox of letters, he decides to rescue them. 12yo Nevaeh is also working with a parent this summer – her father, the Junk King. While their parents aren’t friends, Colin and Nevaeh come together to read the letters from the 1970’s and solve the mystery of why two fast friends suddenly stopped speaking to each other. Then Nevaeh also finds a letter – but one that hints at a modern mystery – did Colin’s mother sabotage her father’s business? 

The interplay between the two new friends is a nice echo of the mystery from the 1970’s. I enjoyed watching the modern kids as they tried to juggle their families and perhaps reunite two former friends. While not Haddix’s strongest writing, still satisfying. Nevaeh does continually bring up the differences between women’s choices in the 1970’s and now. The characters default to white. 

 Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS