Mysteries of Trash & Treasure: The Secret Letters by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Have you ever gotten a summer job? Well, imagine having a summer job that is just cleaning out junk for other people, with your MOM. That’s exactly the situation Colin Freedmont is in, and although he loves his mom, this wasn’t how he envisioned his summer playing out.

While cleaning out a client’s attic, Colin found a shoebox hidden under the floorboards, containing mysterious letters. The letters were written by kids named Rosemary and Toby in the seventies, but from what Colin reads, they eventually had a falling out and never talked to each other ever again. But why? Even though his job was to throw away anything that had no importance, he couldn’t bring himself to discard the letters and decided to keep the shoebox.

Meanwhile, Nevaeh Greevey is also hating her summer. Her summer is spent working with her dad, known as the Junk King, and the rest of her siblings trying to repurpose junk in order to earn some money. Even though being loyal to family is extremely important to her, Nevaeh wishes to get away from all of the junk and live a neat and tidy life.

Soon, Nevaeh and the rest of the Greeveys take a trip to visit a storage unit that could hold many valuable items. Her dad had been talking about this storage unit for a very long time, and her entire family was very excited to see what riches would lay inside. However, to everyone’s surprise, the unit turns out to be completely empty, with the exception of a mysterious letter.

Who could’ve stolen everything inside of the storage unit? The Junk King suspects one single person, Felicia Creedmont, his ex-employee who just so happens to be Colin’s mom.

As Colin goes on the hunt to find more letters and explore the stories of the two kids from the past, he ends up meeting Nevaeh and together they follow the trail of clues to figure out what happened to Rosemary and Toby. But the letter that Nevaeh found in the storage system could potentially ruin their friendship, especially when the two of them find out how much their parents hate each other.

If you like mysteries, uncovering history, and long-lasting friendships, this book is for you. While reading, I couldn’t put the book down and the way everything is connected is so satisfying. Any adult who grew up in the seventies can probably relate to some of the cultural notes that us teenagers now wouldn’t understand in the slightest. 

There are also some undertones that make the story deep and meaningful, such as women’s rights in America and how women fought for basic things such as having a credit card or not just being property of their husband. Bias still occurs today; an example in this story was when Nevaeh’s father made Nevaeh and her sister scrub the dishes, even though their brothers probably would’ve been able to do it way faster. This book also brings up boy and girl friendships that don’t involve love. Many boys and girls are friends with each other, but that doesn’t mean they’re dating and love each other. They could be just friends, and that’s totally normal. 

Therefore, I would definitely recommend this book!

Check out Mysteries of Trash and Treasure from NBPL!