The Postcard

After his grandmother dies, thirteen year-old Jason and his father travel to St. Petersburg, Florida, to clean out her house. What a horrible way to spend summer break! He has no interest in going through the closets and drawers of an old woman he’s never met. Secretly, Jason thinks his mother insisted he go so he could keep an eye on his father, who drinks too much. Jason suspects that his parents are on the verge of a divorce. His mom is so busy at work, and she feels frustrated by his father’s silent despair. But, these concerns fade into the background when a strange phone caller tells Jason that “you can learn a lot at a desk.” Realizing that the person is hinting that Jason should look in his grandmother’s desk, he does, show more and he finds an old postcard of the DeSoto Hotel, the hotel owned by his great-grandfather. Later, as he looks through a file box of important papers, Jason finds a magazine in a file folder labeled “EB.” Bizarre Mysteries contains a story by Emerson Beale entitled “Twin Palms: A Novel of Thrilling Terror.” Could Emerson Beale be the “EB” on the folder? As Jason reads the story and pursues the clues given on the first postcard and those that keep mysteriously appearing, he begins to uncover his grandmother’s past- who his father’s father was and why his grandmother spent most of her adult life in a wheelchair.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com show less

I might've given this four stars (rounding up) if the boy were 15 instead of 13. It's a story that is complex enough to be suitable for no younger than 13 yo kids, and as you know, kids tend to read about characters slightly older, and smarter & braver, than they are.

Very original. Love the Florida setting. Interesting mysteries. I liked the pulp fiction unto itself.

But I would not like to know that my son, at 13, was doing all this dangerous stuff.

The Postcard is not exactly what I expected. The story is well written, but really seems like it should have been written with a more adult protagonist. Much of the story contained references to literature and history that someone of this age wouldn't know, much less use. The story, however, is very good containing a larger message about life.
When Jason's grandmother dies, he discovers almost accidentally, that his parents are on the verge of splitting up. He goes to Florida to be with his father as they get his grandmother's house ready to sell. Jason is angry and frustrated by his trip to Florida ruining his plans for summer vacation, but when he finds a postcard in his grandmother's house, the real adventure begins. His grandmother's show more funeral is populated by strange looking people that Jason doesn't know, but they start to seem familiar when the clues on the postcard lead Jason to the beginning pages of a mystery that seems to include his grandmother and all of these strange people. Jason meets a girl about his age named Dia who calls him every name but his own, and she helps him track down more clues and find more of the story. Soon Jason and Dia find themselves in danger from the very people who seemed to be his grandmother's friends. Both the mystery of his grandmother and the mystery of the story run throughout the book.
The Postcard is a very poignant story about the way we spend our lives and what we are left with at the end of it. Overall a very interesting story with lots of twists and turns, especially at the end when Jason discovers who has really been chasing him and why. show less

The Postcard is not exactly what I expected. The story is well written, but really seems like it should have been written with a more adult protagonist. Much of the story contained references to literature and history that someone of this age wouldn't know, much less use. The story, however, is very good containing a larger message about life.
When Jason's grandmother dies, he discovers almost accidentally, that his parents are on the verge of splitting up. He goes to Florida to be with his father as they get his grandmother's house ready to sell. Jason is angry and frustrated by his trip to Florida ruining his plans for summer vacation, but when he finds a postcard in his grandmother's house, the real adventure begins. His grandmother's show more funeral is populated by strange looking people that Jason doesn't know, but they start to seem familiar when the clues on the postcard lead Jason to the beginning pages of a mystery that seems to include his grandmother and all of these strange people. Jason meets a girl about his age named Dia who calls him every name but his own, and she helps him track down more clues and find more of the story. Soon Jason and Dia find themselves in danger from the very people who seemed to be his grandmother's friends. Both the mystery of his grandmother and the mystery of the story run throughout the book.
The Postcard is a very poignant story about the way we spend our lives and what we are left with at the end of it. Overall a very interesting story with lots of twists and turns, especially at the end when Jason discovers who has really been chasing him and why. show less

When Jason's grandmother dies he goes to Florida to help his father and uncovers a mystery surrounding his grandmother, with the help of Dia, a girl that lives nearby, Jason begins to unravel the mystery. The main characters are well developed throughout the story, Jason and Dia appear to be people the reader would get along with and all the characters in the mystery are developed with fear or compassion depending on their role in the story. The book is hard to put down with short chapters that always end at a point where the reader wants to keep reading. The setting is a hot Florida summer and is the perfect fit for the story. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it for upper elementary and middle school students.

Enjoyable deviation from the norm. this story encumpases historical elements, mystery, modern family problems, and a bit of humor. When Jason's grandmother who he's never known dies and his dad returns to Florida to take care of the details, Jason joins him and runs face first into a 60 year old mystery. A mysterious postcard and an old magazine article lead him on a quest for a man whomight or might not be his grandfather and the tragic heroine that his grandmother might have been.

Abbott skillfully combines postcards, an old magazine and a historical St. Petersburg with modern life. It takes a thirteen-year-old boy to discover the romance and mystery present in all of those elements. And, it takes The Postcard to capture the magic of the past in a riveting, suspenseful caper.