Summer Of The Buckeye Whistle

By Rebecca Somoskey

Middle-Grade Mystery Adventure from Bearwallow Mountain, Virginia; Soft cover booklet; 51/2 by 81/2 inches: 61 pages

Kristen, almost thirteen, makes up headlines to fit her immediate circumstances and writes letters to God. And she already has her life planned.  She is going to become a journalist for The Washington Post or some other important newspaper. She is already a reporter for THE HOOT, her middle school paper. The next step is to win a contest by writing the best summer story. The prize: Editor of THE HOOT for the coming school year.

Then her plans fall apart when she has to spend the summer on Bearwallow Mountain with her grandparents, because “It’s a place where NOTHING EVER HAPPENS." She arrives on Bearwallow full of prejudices against the mountain people, and then becomes entangled in a mystery. Who is the rock throwing tree climber on Dismal Creek?  Why do she and her cousin Clay receive a vicious threat at a death wake?  What are the Brown brothers hiding on Dismal Creek? She finds a new friend who can carve beautiful buckeye whistles and imitate the bird songs of the mountains. But where do his true loyalties lie? Will he betray her trust? She and Clay are kidnapped by a gentle mountain man who plays both classical music and bluegrass on his fiddle. And where does her Grampaw fit in the mystery? Is he hiding something too?

This could be the story that will cinch the contest. But when the puzzle is finally unraveled Kristen finds that God has taken her life in a totally different and delightful direction than what she had planned.

All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are Your thoughts O God! Psalm 139:16-17 (NIV)

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you.”Jeremiah 29:11

To Order please send a check or money order for $7 (Postage and handling are included) to Bearwallow Blessings Ministries, 1898 Red Oak Ridge Road, Jewell Ridge 24622 Please allow 2 weeks for delivery.