A MESSAGE FROM THE MATCH GIRL

The third Investigators entry presents a tantalizing mystery of mother love. Left in Granny Docker's casserole dish after a church supper, Walter Kew has no memory of his mother, only a baby picture posed in front of a statue of Hans Christian Andersen's Match Girl in a local park. When someone starts sending Walter matches in the mail and leaving tokens of his past at the statue (a tiny blue mitten, a hospital ID bracelet), his friends Poco and Georgina suspect a shy waitress who works near the park of being Waiter's real mother. Walter prefers to believe in a ghostly parent who gives him what he most desperately needs--the knowledge that he was loved and never abandoned. Lisle (Looking for Juliette, 1994, etc.) brings grace and precision to every line of this thoughtful book that is full of a child's wistful fancy and hope. Distinctive characters--the dialogue between Poco and Georgina is always funny and true--and a compelling theme combine eloquently in a memorable work.