A Green Velvet Secret
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Letters from beyond the grave and a green velvet dress reveal a secret about Yardley's beloved grandmother; for fans of The Parker Inheritance and The List of Things That Will Not Change and ages 10 and up.
It's always hard to lose a friend, but for Yardley O'Hanlon it's devastating. Her best friend is her wild and wonderful grandmother Gidge. They're two fashionable peas in a quirky little pod. They spend all their time together sewing and crafting and creating beautiful things — until Gidge dies, and Yardley loses her for good.
Or does she?
Yardley isn't convinced. Gidge was a big believer in reincarnation. She promised she'd never leave Yardley, and Gidge always kept her promises. So when a stylish older woman walks into the Over Easy Vintage Emporium where Yardley is helping out, Yardley is sure it's her grandmother, back from the dead. But her happiness doesn't last long, as the woman runs away in terror and no one else believes she was Gidge reincarnated. It's only with the help of a beautiful green velvet dress, a series of letters from "the other side" and an irritating twelve-year-old buttinsky named Harris that Yardley discovers there's more to the mystery woman — and Gidge — than she ever imagined.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A beloved grandmother's death drives this moving mystery from Grant (Tell Me When You Feel Something). Twelve-year-old Yardley O'Hanlon is close to her free-spirited grandmother, Gidge, who shares her love of crafting and guerrilla fashion. But Gidge's balloons-and-champagne announcement of her terminal cancer diagnosis—"an exciting new phase of my life"—promises to change that. Using her remaining time to get her karma, and her belongings, in order, Gidge begins writing letters of apology, sorting her vast vintage clothing collection, and trying to persuade Yardley that she could use a friend her own age. When she discovers that a favorite former student owns the Over Easy Vintage Emporium, Gidge urges Yardley to befriend his sullen nephew, Harris. Devastated following Gidge's tenderly portrayed physician-assisted death, Yardley takes up work at Over Easy and embraces Gidge's belief in reincarnation—soon spotting Gidge in a customer who comes in to claim the late woman's green velvet dress. As Yardley seeks the stranger with Gidge's eyes, she discovers that her grandmother—and karma—have surprises in store. Quirky, fully fleshed characters and a tender third-person narration accompany themes of grieving, making amends, and living a full life in this winning novel. Characters read as white. Ages 10–up.
