“When you’re so busy trying to be what other people think
you should be, you’ll never find your own music.”
Cecilia has a problem; she can’t hear the music in the pine
forest. This is a problem for her because according to the story her parents
tell every year on her birthday, the pines played a special song on the night
she was born. Now that she’s
almost 11 she wants to hear the music for herself, but no matter how hard she
searches she can’t find the music.
Then one night she inadvertently witnesses the secret arrival of a new
resident to her town of Wares Grove, New Jersey. She soon discovers that the mystery person is a famous pre
teen star. He’s picked her town to
hide out in after a very public embarrassment on a reality show. He’s gone from fame to serving pancakes
at the Pancake Palace. Can he help
Cecilia find the music before the paparazzi finds him first? Will the people of Ware’s Grove keep
his secret or sell him out?
This story gave me a whole new perspective on the state of
New Jersey. I actually found
myself researching New Jersey to discover if there really was a Pinelands, a
place that…..
“…..can go
unnoticed. The trees are stubby,
the paths are hard to find, and the streams are lazy and slow.”
I also found myself craving pancakes, especially Aunt
Emily’s famous Reds (cranberry), Blues (blueberry) and Whites (plain, but
there’s nothing plan about them).
