Josie & The Mystery Room, by Florence Petheram

Recommended especially for Teens and Young Adults

Josie has moved to a new house. One room is forbidden. Josie has vowed she will solve the mystery of that room. What is going on behind the closed door? Interesting sounds, mysterious comings and goings by her new foster father, and a stern warning never to go into that room. It’s a mystery, but there are clues.

As the story begins, 13-year-old Josie arrives at the doorstep of a new place to live. She’s meeting yet another foster family. Every move in her lifetime comes with different people to get to know, an unfamiliar foster house, a new neighborhood, and new must-learn rules and chores. Josie “drew her invisible, see-through wall of protection around her . . .”. It turns out this foster family is different indeed, and there’s much to explore with Josie & The Mystery Room.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are foster parents who suddenly have a full house. They’ve adopted a new puppy dog who immediately became best friends with Josie. Another surprise is Tina Rae, a 10-year-old who has her own trail of foster families and is now moving in here too. She’s very interested in becoming Josie’s little sister. Can a stranger become a sister? Can a group of people who join together become a family?

There are new neighbors to meet, including twins Blake and Brad who are in Josie’s classes at the school she starts attending. These boys are very interesting and both want to be friends. Josie wonders what hidden secrets they may have. School turns out to be an adventure in a variety of classes. Josie begins to settle into this life. Yet, every time she passes the mystery room she lingers, she hunts for clues, then one day something unexpected happens. Suddenly Josie is able to enter the mystery room. She vowed she would one day, but now she hesitates. What will she risk if she goes in? What will she find inside? What will happen to her?

This is a good read and a good deed. Author Florence Petheram is donating 50% of the proceeds from every book sold to a favorite Seattle organization. This non-profit, Treehouse is giving foster kids a childhood and a future.

— By Wendy Kendall

Wendy Kendall is an author with The Wild Rose Press. Her mystery “Kat Out of the Bag” is available and also the prequel “Purse-Stachio Makes A Splash.” She is a volunteer at the Friends of the Edmonds Library