“Beware the gift, Windy.” Windy Wildwood looks around, she is alone on blanket on grass. Suddenly her Mother and Grandma appear. When Windy opens her eyes she is up in attic trying to open her grandma’s old trunk. Windy’s Dad is planning to leave on a business trip, Windy will stay home with her step mother Teresa. It isn’t that Windy dislikes Teresa, she just misses her mom. To fill the void Windy reads a lot. When Windy finds a secret hiding place in her grandmother’s old jewelry box Windy has no idea what adventures she is facing. Windy and best friend Sam, Samantha, have a lot in common. The girls are good basketball players, in fact they win a championship game. Windy first met Sam when a group of boys were taunting Windy down at the park. Sam’s older brothers soon put a stop to that. Windy knows she is not supposed to go up to the old attic. But, she just can’t stay away.

An old trunk, one blue eye and one brown, a cat named Stormy, a mysterious voice only Windy hears and a surprising find are all part of the tale.

Windy Wildwood: The Secret in the Attic touches on a minor physical attribute not found in everyone and some low key, child to child bullying Windy endures because of that attribute. Parents and classroom teachers alike will find the book a valuable tool for helping children understand how being different may cause classmates to torment. As well the book will provide some talking points for how to deal with taunting. The loss of Windy’s Mother and Grandmother will provide more talking points for adults as they aide youngsters who may be struggling with a loss in their own lives.

Writers Frie and Zahradnik have crafted an excellent read for their target audience of middle grade to older readers. Windy Wildwood: The Secret in the Attic is a slim, 111 page volume filled with engaging characters, entertaining predicaments and a nice dollop of mystification. Main Character Windy is a likeable little girl struggling to deal with the deaths of the two women most important to her life. Her Grandmother is intriguing, she was a gypsy, and died of old age when Windy was quite small. Windy’s mother died of illness not too long before the story begins. Windy is a pretty typical ten-year-old girl: cat, messy room, loves to read. Her parents and Samantha will no doubt be fleshed out in succeeding works in the series.

Mystery, and maybe even magic, flows from the opening lines as the reader meets Windy up in the attic while dreaming, or perhaps not, that she sees her Mother and Grandmother. Settings are offered in enough detail to bring the writer into the scene. Dialogue, as well as Windy’s ruminations moves the tale along as we follow a determined Windy from the attic and back again. She doesn’t really mean to be disobedient, however the lure of the attic and what it holds is powerful.

Windy Wildwood: The Secret in the Attic is an excellent choice for the home and school library. Girls in the target audience will be especially interested in the book The Publisher site even has an email address where girls can send notes to Windy: windywildwood.charter.net

Enjoyed the read, Happy to Recommend.

Reviewed by: Molly's Reviews molly martin 30+ years classroom teacher  

Genre: education, growing up 

middle and upper grades

Author: . RR Frie, K. Zahradnik

Line/Publisher Zahrob Publishing Company, LLC

 ISBN: 0-9753641-0-3