Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe

by Jo Watson Hackl

Overview

11 days. 13 clues. And one kid who won't give up. Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe is "part treasure hunt, part wilderness adventure, and all heart" (Alan Gratz, New York Times bestselling author of Refugee).

How far would you go to find something that might not even exist?

All her life, Cricket's mama has told her stories about a secret room painted by a mysterious artist. Now Mama's run off, and Cricket thinks the room might be the answer to getting her to come back. If it exists. And if she can find it.

Cricket's first clue is a coin from a grown-over ghost town in the woods. So with her daddy's old guidebook and a coat full of snacks stolen from the Cash 'n' Carry, Cricket runs away to find the room. Surviving in the woods isn't easy. While Cricket camps out in an old tree house and looks for clues, she meets the last resident of the ghost town, encounters a poetry-loving dog (who just might hold a key to part of the puzzle), and discovers that sometimes you have to get a little lost . . . to really find your way.

2020 Mississippi Library Association Children's Author Award
2019 Southern Book Award Winner—Children's Category

"A tale of adventure, full of mystery." —Robert Beatty, New York Times bestselling author of Serafina and the Black Cloak

"An unforgettable story about a gutsy girl who will steal your heart." —Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces

"Lyrical and endearing, this debut is a genuine adventure tale." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399557415
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	07/30/2019
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	508,960
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Jo Watson Hackl was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, not far from Ocean Springs, where her favorite artist, Walter Anderson, lived and once painted a secret room. When Jo was eleven, she moved to a real-life ghost town, Electric Mills, Mississippi. Mr. Anderson's secret room and the ghost town were Jo's inspiration for this debut novel. She lives with her family in Greenville, South Carolina. You can find her online at JoHackl.com.

Read an Excerpt

Turns out, it’s easier than you might think to sneak out of town smuggling a live cricket, three pocketfuls of jerky, and two bags of half-paid-for merchandise from Thelma’s Cash ’n’ Carry grocery store.
(Continues…)

---

Excerpted from "Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Jo Watson Hackl.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Children's Books.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Editorial Reviews

07/16/2018
In this emotional first novel, the 12-year-old narrator, Cricket, poses an essential question: “Just how far will you go to get your mama back?” After the death of Cricket’s grandmother, her mother “went to pieces” and then “ran off.” Cricket is left with her steady father, but his sudden death thrusts her into the care of a scheming aunt. When lonely Cricket learns that she’ll be sent to a greedy second cousin, and she’s subsequently abandoned in a grocery store, she flees to the woods, along with a new pet—an actual cricket, which she names Charlene. Together, they set out to solve a mystery that Cricket hopes will bring her mother home. Hackl crafts an authentic, memorable character in Cricket as she pieces her mother’s mood swings, medicine, and eccentric behavior into a penetrating and mature realization about mental illness. This piercing, often humorous adventure demonstrates how facing the truth can bring freedom and hope. Ages 8–12. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"This piercing, often humorous adventure demonstrates how facing the truth can bring freedom and hope."—Publishers Weekly

"The plot, full of adventure, treasure hunts, and mystery, will keep young readers hooked."—School Library Journal

"Colorfully narrated by Cricket, who comes across as idiosyncratic, intrepid, and wholly likable. An engaging first novel with a distinctive Southern setting."—Booklist

"A tale of adventure, full of mystery and suspense."—Robert Beatty, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Serafina and the Black Cloak

"A heartwarming coming-of-age story."—Kirby Larson, Newbery Honor-winning author of Hattie Big Sky

"A masterful debut. Cricket is my new hero, brave and funny and full of heart. I couldn't put it down."—Augusta Scattergood,  author of Glory Be

"A brilliant, utterly absorbing debut. I couldn't get enough of Cricket's adventures. Totally unputdownable."—Carrie Ryan, New York Times Bestselling author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth

From the Publisher

05/01/2018
Gr 4–6—After her father passes away and her mama runs off, Cricket decides to head out on a quest to find a mysterious room her mama always talked about. Her only clue is a coin from an abandoned ghost town. Living in an old treehouse in the woods, she searches for her next lead with the help of her daddy's old guidebook. Meanwhile, everyone is looking for her and if they find her, she'll have to go live with GAG, her great-aunt Genevieve. Cricket is an intriguing and complex protagonist, and the plot, full of adventure, treasure hunts, and mystery, will keep young readers hooked. Humorous chapter titles set the tone for each new discovery. VERDICT An entertaining addition to libraries where quirky Southern mystery adventures are in demand.—Kira Moody, Salt Lake County Library Services

School Library Journal

★ 2018-04-25
What lies beyond the trees promises to bring one of two things—either powerful glory or terrible heartache. Told in the easy, laconic tone of good, Southern storytelling, Hackl's debut rolls off the tongue and into the heart easy as warm butter on a biscuit. Set near the now-empty mill town of Electric City, Mississippi, the story deals with issues of loss, abandonment, and coping with the instability mental illness can bring to a family. Protagonist Cricket is searching for her absent mama. She believes that if she goes into the woods where daddy taught her about the land and mama taught her about birds and flowers and painting, she'll find the answers she's been seeking. However, it takes gumption to run off into the Mississippi woods straight toward a ghost town—and learning how to survive on her own isn't so easy either. Hackl does a great job of describing Cricket's adventure through her hunter-gatherer skills—from finding bamboo shoots in the dirt to what to do with a "field of clover, dandelion greens, wild onion, and two hickory nut trees." Cricket, with her pet cricket (named Charlene) and her unwavering belief in her mama, learns that some people can't be changed and that life can be both beautiful and cruel. Cricket seems to be white.Lyrical and endearing, this debut is a genuine adventure tale, poignant and as fresh as a spring garden. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews