The Boy on Cinnamon Street
Report Written by Grace Nolen
The Boy on Cinnamon Street by Phoebe Stone
This is a beautiful book about how finding a friend can unfreeze even the coldest heart.
The main character, Louise (Thumbelina), has a secret, but she doesn't even know it. Whatever it is has held her back no matter how hard she tries to break free. She lives with her grandparents and she was the best gymnast but it just wasn't working out. And when she starts getting notes from a secret admirer her heart tells her it's time to break free. Remi, her best friend, and Harrison, Remi's brother, lend in a hand to see if they can figure out the notes but, it seems impossible.
A thousand things bring Louise tumbling to a heart-stopping and tear-bringing conclusion. During Remi's sister's special night, the suspected note sender turns up and Louise runs. She doesn't know where to but as she runs, all the pieces fall into place and she remembers. When she reaches her old house, she breaks the window and rushes in to her mother's old room as she remembers the day her mother committed suicide. She remembers how one day on a lake the boat started filling with water and she smiled while her mother cried. They had had fudge pops and ice cream before her mother drilled a hole in the boat. She also remembers how they were saved that day and a couple weeks later her mother tried again and succeeded, how when she woke up that morning and her mother was dead she climbed a tree and no one could bring her down except her grandfather. Then, Henderson shows up to take her home and she goes. When, she reaches her home she goes to her room and the final piece falls into place. The boy Remi suspected had sent the notes hadn't. It had been Henderson.
Afterward, she gets sick. Very, very sick. She stays sick for several days and as she does Harrison leaves. She spends two weeks sick then goes back to school. She and Remi spend the last week of school together then summer arrives. They talk a lot and get together some. A couple weeks later Henderson comes back but, doesn't speak to Louise all that much. And one day Louise goes to the park and finds a camera sitting on a bench. She looks all around but can't see anyone. Hoping to find some identification, she turns on the camera and clicks through the photos. Instead, she finds pictures of Henderson. There were pictures of Henderson placing every secret admirer note she had gotten. The final picture was of Henderson holding a big heart with the words "Will you go to the Spring Dance with me Thumbelina?" written on it.
Louise says yes and they go to the dance together. Henderson gives her a piece of a falling star and they all live happily ever after.