Middletree

"In the Heart of the Dark Wood" , Billy Coffey's 5th book, is, like the others, set in the fictional town of Mattingly, Virginia, using many of the same characters as in the previous books. The new novel is not a sequel in the strictest sense, but certainly is built on the stories already told, particularly " When Mockingbirds Sing ". That heartbreaking, yet hopeful story included a tragedy which caused tremendous damage (emotional as well as physical) to the entire community.  In "Mockingbirds", we were introduced to Allie, a young girl whose mother was taken away by the tornado, her body never found. The new story focuses on Allie's search for her lost mother. Allie believes her mom is the focus of her search, but it becomes apparent that she's actually looking for closure, for healing, for her dad's freedom from addiction, and for the restoration of her faith. Along the way, Allie's friend Zach discovers, at the age of 12, t...

He left out the "E". A year earlier, the boy won his school spelling bee, and then took 3rd place in the area bee. That day's winner, Ansun Sujoe , ended up sharing the national title. By finishing just two places behind him, the boy saw himself as just a step away from qualifying for a trip to Washington. So he resolved that next year was going to be his year. He began, 7 months early, to study the list of several hundred pretty hard words. He studied in the car and at home, often at the expense of time with the TV or video games. The goal was to make it to the nationals, but before that could happen, he'd still have to achieve 1st or 2nd place in his class, and then for his school, in order to match last year's progress. Now, on this night, here he was, one of 3 remaining contestants in the school bee. He only had to last longer than one of the others. The boy was asked to spell a word he knew well. But his excitement at getting such an easy word led him t...