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Much Ado About Grubstake
Grubstake is a grubby down-on-its-luck mining town filled with grubby down-on-their-luck miners. So when a decidedly nongrubby city slicker shows up and offers to buy the tapped-out mines, the miners are sorely tempted. But not Arley, the brash sixteen-year-old girl who runs the boardinghouse. No, Arley smells a rat. What could some fancy-britches rascal want with empty mines? Is there more in those desolate pits than the Grubs realize?
Like Jean Ferris’s popular Once Upon a Marigold, this lighthearted, endearingly goofy story is packed with quirky, lovable characters and piercing insights.
Like Jean Ferris’s popular Once Upon a Marigold, this lighthearted, endearingly goofy story is packed with quirky, lovable characters and piercing insights.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2006
9 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
Jean Ferris
29 books208 followersThis author is not afraid to tackle difficult subjects: living with a deaf parent (Of Sound Mind), facing the consequences of a criminal act (Bad), or questioning one's sexuality (Eight Seconds). But Jean Ferris is also adept at writing comedy, historical fiction, and romance. What's most interesting is that she didn't publish her first novel until she was in her mid-40s. Yet she's never forgotten the intense feelings and changes of her own teenage years. Critics as well as teen readers have seen the evidence of that in her writing and have honored her novels with a number of awards, from Best Books for Young Adults to various state and National Book Award nominations.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
November 26, 2008
I loved this! I got it from the book fair and I loved how it was about mining and jewels. It was also cool because their wasn't a sherriff in their town. I especially loved the ending. When Morgan was about to ask Arley to marry her and then her friends came in and interrupted them.
July 2, 2013
Why isn't there a second one?
February 1, 2016
AUTHOR. HUMOR. Much Ado About Grubstake by Jean Ferris is a typical, amazing, Ferris book. Humorous, romantic, fairy tale-esque. When a newcomer comes into a town of 62 people, everyone is curious. When said stranger wants to buy their mines that have held nothing for many years, some people start to get suspcious, especially becuase of the enormous amount of money the stranger is paying. So Arley, a young business owner starts investigating. And she may just end up saving her town from an evil business tycoon in the process, all the while imagining herself as the hero of one of her favorite stories.
The beginning plot of the story, a stranger comes into a small town with an offer they can't resist, reminded me of "The Music Man" but instantly something turned into something different, and amazing. Although this is a western fairy tale, its as much of a fairy tale as any, with enough romance to make it cute. Very enjoyable, nothing objectionable or immoral. Characters work together really well, and the mystery/twists keep the book going. Can get a bit predicable at times, but definitely worth the read. Almost as precious as osblindium!
The beginning plot of the story, a stranger comes into a small town with an offer they can't resist, reminded me of "The Music Man" but instantly something turned into something different, and amazing. Although this is a western fairy tale, its as much of a fairy tale as any, with enough romance to make it cute. Very enjoyable, nothing objectionable or immoral. Characters work together really well, and the mystery/twists keep the book going. Can get a bit predicable at times, but definitely worth the read. Almost as precious as osblindium!
July 7, 2013
I loved this book, it was sweet, funny, and slightly mysterious. Ya, it was a very used idea, but with a twist all belonging to jean. I really liked the dogs, Orville and Wilbur, and Morgan. This book holds a place on my bookshelf and in my heart.
April 13, 2014
The plot was great, but it didn't really feel like 1888. The historical aspect was not very well defined as if not for the fact that you know that it takes place during the Gold Rush, you couldn't tell when it was.
June 3, 2025
This was a cute, quick middle grade read. It's not my favorite Jean Ferris book - she has some amazing stories - but it was fun. I had a good time, I loved the town of Grubstake, and Arley had a great journey of her own.
August 20, 2018
MUCH ADO ABOUT GRUBSTAKE
Arley Pickett is a 16-year-old, orphan girl who lives in a mining town called Grubstake. She runs a boarding house inherited from her family. Having lost her mother at birth, Arley lost her father at the age of 14 in a mining accident. Her father blew himself out in Never Mine. Being all alone at the age of 14, Arley has a boarding house and the mine named Never Mine left behind from her family. After his father's death, Arley cannot set foot in the mine, but she takes care and manages the boarding house. In this entire life struggle, her only excitement is to read the book series Penny Dreadful.
The Penny Dreadful books give her excitement that she cannot find in Grubstake. Although there is nothing interesting about Grubstake, things always happened in the books Arley reads. People got kidnapped by pirates; they married with the wrong people; they were thrown in jail or chased by bandits. Nothing interesting happened in Grubstake. Although Grubstake is a mining town, the mines were played out. Most of the people moved to Denver to live a better life when they could not find what they were looking for. The Opera House was closed when Arley was little; the schoolmarm left the school to marry with someone; even the train line had been cut and arrived only once a month. In the town there remain 62 people. Some of those are; Everdeen Hannigan, the owner of the hotel and saloon in the town; the newspaper editor Duncan McKenzie; the town baker Wing Lee; Bridget working in the saloon; the town's doctor, Mr. Bernaise and his family, especially the daughter of the doctor Lacey Bernaise, and of course Arley's boarders which are four old miners: Zeb, Purvis, Outdoor John and Praire Martin.
One day, Arley and her dogs, Wilbur and Orville, were waiting for the train from the city at the station. This incoming train was very important for Arley, because the new Penny Dreadful books would be available. While Arley was waiting for new books, a city slicker stranger got off the train. Normally Arley should have noticed this man, but she could not think of anything else except from her books. This stranger was quite stylishly dressed and wealthy man. This mysterious man, who came with two chests, was a big curiosity for all Grubs as soon as he came to the town. This man known as Charles Randall published a flyer with the help of the journalist Duncan McKenzie and distributed it to the whole town. The flyer announced that Randall invited everyone in the town to a meeting in Spitton, run by Everdeen Hannigan, at 7:00 pm. Charles Randall mentioned about an offer that no sane person would refuse, and everyone would have the opportunity to live in a place they had dreamed of.
This flyer was intriguing to the whole town; especially Arley was very curious about what this offer was and how it would be possible. The Grubs participated in the meeting on time. Charles Randall said that he wanted to build a mountain resort in Grubstake, so he wanted to buy the mines of the Grubs. Thanks to the money Randall could pay for the mines, everyone could live anywhere they wanted to live. People came to Grubstake hoping that they could find valuable things to live better. They had to struggle to find any precious mine for years; however, no one could achieve it. That's why Randall's offer was a great opportunity for anyone who wanted to get rid of Grubstake. However, Arley was suspicious of him. Who wants to make a resort for this miserable town that no one has ever visited?
Despite Arley's suspicions, Zed sold his mine and left Grubstake. Arley was very upset about this situation; because Arley and her boarders were very close. Although Arley was younger than them, she was the only person who organized them and gave advices to them. Without Arley, the life was very difficult for them to survive. However, Zed preferred to go away. When Zed left from the boarding house, a man named Morgan came as a boarder. Two strangers arrived in Grubstake very soon and it was quite interesting.
Morgan was dressed in black from head to foot. He came to the town riding in a horse called Millicent, not a train like Randall. Arley was very frightened of this man when she first met Morgan. The guy had a scar on his face and he just told Arley his name. The reason why was that Morgan was an orphan like Arley. He lived in an orphanage. Arley was also suspicious of this man.
Later, Arley discovered Randall and Morgan knew each other and worked together in a supper Randall gave to the Grubs. Along with the baker Wing Lee, Everdeen and Bridget, they tried to solve the connection between these two men. Arley entered into Morgan's room and reached some documents; so, she learned that Randall and Morgan were working for a man named Sidney Lockwood. Morgan was looking for something valuable in the mines in behalf of Mr. Lockwood; Randall convinced the Grubs to sell their mines. Arley was following these men and trying to find out what this valuable thing could be.
With the help of Everdeen, Duncan and Wing, Arley found out the mines in Grubstake had a valuable mineral named osblindium, which is found only in Russia, and these men were after this mineral. Even if Arley tried to warn the Grubs with an article written by Duncan, the Grubs continued to sell their mines to get rid of Grubstake. Arley had no intention of giving up, so Mr. Lockwood came to Grubstake because of her games to dissuade people from selling their mines and he again convinced the Grubs to sell their mines. Meanwhile, Morgan discovered that osblindium was only found in Arley’s mine named Never Mine; however, Arley had no intention of selling the mine to Mr. Lockwood. Morgan getting closer with Arley decided to hide this fact from Mr. Lockwood to protect Arley. He disobeyed Mr. Lockwood and left his job.
As a result of a discussion with Arley, Lockwood learned that osblindium was only found in Arley's mine. Arley told Lockwood she would never sell her mine to him. Lockwood, a bad guy, tried to persuade Arley by poisoning her dogs, burning her boarding house and hurting her friends in Grubstake. Sick of Lockwood’s bullying, Arley and her friends made a plan to try to make Lockwood and his man, Charles Randall leave from Grubstake.
They started a gossip that Arley would sell her mine to the competitors of Mr. Lockwood and pulled Mr. Lockwood and Randall to Arley’s mine. Arley, Morgan, Everdeen, Duncan, Wing and Bridget tried to frighten them with the Indian spirits, which was a belief in Grubstake that they allowed the most deserving and pure of heart to benefit from the richness of the mountains, and that they would punish those who were not worthy. Through using the influence of this belief, Arley scared Randall and Lockwood entering into the mine. Then, Randall and Lockwood left Grubstake, Arley asked Morgan to help him stay in town to mine osblindium. Arley was now a wealthy woman and had experienced her own Penny Dreadful story.
Arley Pickett is a 16-year-old, orphan girl who lives in a mining town called Grubstake. She runs a boarding house inherited from her family. Having lost her mother at birth, Arley lost her father at the age of 14 in a mining accident. Her father blew himself out in Never Mine. Being all alone at the age of 14, Arley has a boarding house and the mine named Never Mine left behind from her family. After his father's death, Arley cannot set foot in the mine, but she takes care and manages the boarding house. In this entire life struggle, her only excitement is to read the book series Penny Dreadful.
The Penny Dreadful books give her excitement that she cannot find in Grubstake. Although there is nothing interesting about Grubstake, things always happened in the books Arley reads. People got kidnapped by pirates; they married with the wrong people; they were thrown in jail or chased by bandits. Nothing interesting happened in Grubstake. Although Grubstake is a mining town, the mines were played out. Most of the people moved to Denver to live a better life when they could not find what they were looking for. The Opera House was closed when Arley was little; the schoolmarm left the school to marry with someone; even the train line had been cut and arrived only once a month. In the town there remain 62 people. Some of those are; Everdeen Hannigan, the owner of the hotel and saloon in the town; the newspaper editor Duncan McKenzie; the town baker Wing Lee; Bridget working in the saloon; the town's doctor, Mr. Bernaise and his family, especially the daughter of the doctor Lacey Bernaise, and of course Arley's boarders which are four old miners: Zeb, Purvis, Outdoor John and Praire Martin.
One day, Arley and her dogs, Wilbur and Orville, were waiting for the train from the city at the station. This incoming train was very important for Arley, because the new Penny Dreadful books would be available. While Arley was waiting for new books, a city slicker stranger got off the train. Normally Arley should have noticed this man, but she could not think of anything else except from her books. This stranger was quite stylishly dressed and wealthy man. This mysterious man, who came with two chests, was a big curiosity for all Grubs as soon as he came to the town. This man known as Charles Randall published a flyer with the help of the journalist Duncan McKenzie and distributed it to the whole town. The flyer announced that Randall invited everyone in the town to a meeting in Spitton, run by Everdeen Hannigan, at 7:00 pm. Charles Randall mentioned about an offer that no sane person would refuse, and everyone would have the opportunity to live in a place they had dreamed of.
This flyer was intriguing to the whole town; especially Arley was very curious about what this offer was and how it would be possible. The Grubs participated in the meeting on time. Charles Randall said that he wanted to build a mountain resort in Grubstake, so he wanted to buy the mines of the Grubs. Thanks to the money Randall could pay for the mines, everyone could live anywhere they wanted to live. People came to Grubstake hoping that they could find valuable things to live better. They had to struggle to find any precious mine for years; however, no one could achieve it. That's why Randall's offer was a great opportunity for anyone who wanted to get rid of Grubstake. However, Arley was suspicious of him. Who wants to make a resort for this miserable town that no one has ever visited?
Despite Arley's suspicions, Zed sold his mine and left Grubstake. Arley was very upset about this situation; because Arley and her boarders were very close. Although Arley was younger than them, she was the only person who organized them and gave advices to them. Without Arley, the life was very difficult for them to survive. However, Zed preferred to go away. When Zed left from the boarding house, a man named Morgan came as a boarder. Two strangers arrived in Grubstake very soon and it was quite interesting.
Morgan was dressed in black from head to foot. He came to the town riding in a horse called Millicent, not a train like Randall. Arley was very frightened of this man when she first met Morgan. The guy had a scar on his face and he just told Arley his name. The reason why was that Morgan was an orphan like Arley. He lived in an orphanage. Arley was also suspicious of this man.
Later, Arley discovered Randall and Morgan knew each other and worked together in a supper Randall gave to the Grubs. Along with the baker Wing Lee, Everdeen and Bridget, they tried to solve the connection between these two men. Arley entered into Morgan's room and reached some documents; so, she learned that Randall and Morgan were working for a man named Sidney Lockwood. Morgan was looking for something valuable in the mines in behalf of Mr. Lockwood; Randall convinced the Grubs to sell their mines. Arley was following these men and trying to find out what this valuable thing could be.
With the help of Everdeen, Duncan and Wing, Arley found out the mines in Grubstake had a valuable mineral named osblindium, which is found only in Russia, and these men were after this mineral. Even if Arley tried to warn the Grubs with an article written by Duncan, the Grubs continued to sell their mines to get rid of Grubstake. Arley had no intention of giving up, so Mr. Lockwood came to Grubstake because of her games to dissuade people from selling their mines and he again convinced the Grubs to sell their mines. Meanwhile, Morgan discovered that osblindium was only found in Arley’s mine named Never Mine; however, Arley had no intention of selling the mine to Mr. Lockwood. Morgan getting closer with Arley decided to hide this fact from Mr. Lockwood to protect Arley. He disobeyed Mr. Lockwood and left his job.
As a result of a discussion with Arley, Lockwood learned that osblindium was only found in Arley's mine. Arley told Lockwood she would never sell her mine to him. Lockwood, a bad guy, tried to persuade Arley by poisoning her dogs, burning her boarding house and hurting her friends in Grubstake. Sick of Lockwood’s bullying, Arley and her friends made a plan to try to make Lockwood and his man, Charles Randall leave from Grubstake.
They started a gossip that Arley would sell her mine to the competitors of Mr. Lockwood and pulled Mr. Lockwood and Randall to Arley’s mine. Arley, Morgan, Everdeen, Duncan, Wing and Bridget tried to frighten them with the Indian spirits, which was a belief in Grubstake that they allowed the most deserving and pure of heart to benefit from the richness of the mountains, and that they would punish those who were not worthy. Through using the influence of this belief, Arley scared Randall and Lockwood entering into the mine. Then, Randall and Lockwood left Grubstake, Arley asked Morgan to help him stay in town to mine osblindium. Arley was now a wealthy woman and had experienced her own Penny Dreadful story.
March 18, 2010
I'm almost to the half-way point of this book. I saw it at the book fair at my son's school and bought it because I'm always on the look-out for anything western related that I might be able to use for research and terminology at a later date. While I orginally thought this was a 5th grade level book, (and children's books offer nore than you would think in the way of research and terms) I've come to the realization this book is more middle school age appropriate. While the plot isn't that difficult, or the reading there is a romance in this book, not explicit but more in the way of feelings and how the touch of a hand has an effect on the heart and body. So far, this has made for an enjoyable and fast read, something lighthearted for this gloomy time of year.
May 12, 2012
A charming book about a mining town named Grubstake, Colorado. I liked Arley Pickett and the mysterious black-clad stranger...and the dogs - Wilber, Orville, Muggs and Brute. However, I don't think there was much in the book to warrant it as Young Adult, unless it was tagged as such because Arley was the sixteen-year-old protagonist. But, I did like the book and could easily see myself reading Penny Dreadfuls by the handfuls until the next train brought in more...and letting my imagination get the better of me.
January 10, 2016
3.5 stars, actually. Highly improbable, but sweet and fun story about a tiny mining town where everyone is down on their luck. The real treasure here, though, is the cast of lovable characters Ferris has created. The women are strong, fierce, kind, and noble. The men are endearing and entertaining. Great story with just enough grit for its intended young audience. And there are plenty of doughnuts.
July 15, 2010
This book from an author I love started out okay, got good in the middle, then really fizzled out at the end. It felt so much like a 2-D book...full of flat characters, a boring plot, and too much stereotypical western melodrama. I did like the main character and her friends but things worked out so easily and unbelievably in the end that I didn't feel much like cheering for the "good guys."
Read
July 5, 2018Just like all of Jean Ferris' books, Much Ado About Grubstake was funny and memorable. The adventure had me on the edge of my seat, the characters made me need to hug something hard, and the book was read cover to cover... then turned over and read cover to cover again.
August 18, 2015
As always, Jean Ferris is witty and fun. The western setting was quite enjoyable, and Arley is great- with her runaway imagination and love of penny dreadfuls... Though the basic plot may not be the most original, this is just a easy to read, harmless romance with western flair.
April 21, 2016
I read this because I thought it was a Western remake of "Much Ado About Nothing." It wasn't. Quite. It was more like a remake of the Penny Dreadfuls the heroine likes to read. Enjoyable, rollicking, mid-grade Western.
February 20, 2009
I looooooooovvvvvvved it
May 18, 2009
i love jean ferris! each new book just confirms this.
May 30, 2009
Absolutely adorable David v Goliath story. I loved the characters and the way the down-on-their-luck miners triumph over the fat cat tycoon trying to con them. Funny and sweet.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 5, 2009
i liked this one but i wouldn't read it again
March 6, 2013
I enjoyed it.
November 19, 2018
this book was hard to understand. who calls a town "grubstake"?
March 4, 2024
Much Ado About Grubstake is a book about how Arley is living on her own and trying to figure out why Sidney Lockwood came to their little run down town. Jean Ferris died at the age of 76 and has written 20 books in total. Arley is a 16 year old girl who is just trying to survive in the little town they call Grubstake that only gets a train to come past every month. Then one day she found a note on her back doorstep that said to meet in the saloon and when they did somebody was offering money to buy their land and one of her borders decided to leave to have a better life. Then a day or so later somebody just walked in and took the open bedroom and Arley was very suspicious of him since the very first day.
Arley is 16 years old, owns a boarding house, owns a mine, lost her mom when she was born, and later lost her dad when at the age of 14 due to him blowing himself up. Arley has been in this town of Grubstake her whole life. Since then her dad has died, so she now owns Never Mine. Arley owns a boarding house in Grubstake, so she has 4 boarders living with her. This town was a booming town at one point but then the miners could not find any more gold and silver so they moved on to richer places. As stated by Jean Ferris “ When Grubstake was a boomtown, there had been restaurants, saloons, and a laundry. But that heyday had been brief- as long as the silver and gold came easily-and then it was over”(Ferris,7). One of the central ideas in the book is about struggling in life like Arley losing her parents, being afraid to go in mines, and all of the Grubs had to deal with Sidney Lockwood, who trying to buy all out the mines and let the people of grubstake move out of the area. When Sidney owns some of the mines he is pretty sure that they have osblindium so he can become even richer.
I liked how some of the characters got out of their comfort zone to help other people. She has learned to face her fear of going into mines. As stated by Jean Ferris “I don’t know if I’ll want to do it a lot, but I’m glad I did it now”(Ferris, 253). This showed that she learned to get over her fear. The accident that happened to her dad ended up making her life hard to deal with but once Mr.Lockwood left it made her feel happy. The setting was good but I wish they would say more about the setting throughout the book. If you just started to read from chapter 1 you would never know where Grubstake was located and what year this took place in.
I recommend this book to anybody who likes fictional history books, because it talks about historic times but the people and the events were not all true. Arley is a 16 year old who owns a mine and will now set foot in it. She also has works to work in it, like Morgan and her borders. This book is a pretty good book but I wish they would have explained it a little better. I hope that you go and read some other books like this and even this one.
Arley is 16 years old, owns a boarding house, owns a mine, lost her mom when she was born, and later lost her dad when at the age of 14 due to him blowing himself up. Arley has been in this town of Grubstake her whole life. Since then her dad has died, so she now owns Never Mine. Arley owns a boarding house in Grubstake, so she has 4 boarders living with her. This town was a booming town at one point but then the miners could not find any more gold and silver so they moved on to richer places. As stated by Jean Ferris “ When Grubstake was a boomtown, there had been restaurants, saloons, and a laundry. But that heyday had been brief- as long as the silver and gold came easily-and then it was over”(Ferris,7). One of the central ideas in the book is about struggling in life like Arley losing her parents, being afraid to go in mines, and all of the Grubs had to deal with Sidney Lockwood, who trying to buy all out the mines and let the people of grubstake move out of the area. When Sidney owns some of the mines he is pretty sure that they have osblindium so he can become even richer.
I liked how some of the characters got out of their comfort zone to help other people. She has learned to face her fear of going into mines. As stated by Jean Ferris “I don’t know if I’ll want to do it a lot, but I’m glad I did it now”(Ferris, 253). This showed that she learned to get over her fear. The accident that happened to her dad ended up making her life hard to deal with but once Mr.Lockwood left it made her feel happy. The setting was good but I wish they would say more about the setting throughout the book. If you just started to read from chapter 1 you would never know where Grubstake was located and what year this took place in.
I recommend this book to anybody who likes fictional history books, because it talks about historic times but the people and the events were not all true. Arley is a 16 year old who owns a mine and will now set foot in it. She also has works to work in it, like Morgan and her borders. This book is a pretty good book but I wish they would have explained it a little better. I hope that you go and read some other books like this and even this one.
April 2, 2018
I'm pretty sure this was set in the old west, but for some reason it never really felt like it, so when old-west stuff popped up it was surprising and confusing as to why it was there. This book was ok. I liked Arley and Everdene and Morgan, but all the other characters either weren't very memorable or were just meh or irritating. The story was ok, not very memorable. I don't regret reading it, but I won't be reading it again.
February 15, 2022
I loved this book! What characters! And such twists and turns! Grubstake is very much an old mining town and as such is struggling with things where they are currently at. Learning to deal with things where they are at and looking out for others play a huge part in this.
February 26, 2023
I loved this little book! It had mystery, adventure; taught good values, honesty & hard work; challenging vocabulary, strong female characters and even a little romance. It showed that people are not always what they seem on the outside. The 4th & 5th graders at my school will love it!
October 22, 2017
My favorite book growing up! I've read it so many times that I've had to tape it back together,
August 3, 2020
I really liked this book. The author described the story really well. It felt like you were there too.
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December 4, 2021Very cute, but more innocent YA in age than MG.
December 3, 2025
Another fun read, clean book. Light reading
June 2, 2015
Originally rated A by Terri Squeglia
Arley is a sixteen year-old independent young woman who runs a dilapidated boarding house in the town of Grubstake, Colorado. She is also the owner of a mine, which her late father left her. This once booming mining town is now a ghost town of sixty-eight inhabitants. The mines have dried up and most of the miners have left the town. Enter Mr. Lockwood, a stranger dressed in black who rides into town on a black horse. This slick city character offers to pay big money for all the abandon mines. Almost all of the ‘Grubs,’ the townspeople, want to sell their mines and move on. Arley seems it is very suspicious. She becomes a detective along with Everdene, the tavern owner and Bridget, the bar maid, to find out what are the real intentions of Mr. Lockwood. An avid reading of the Penny Dreadfuls reading series, she finds herself involved in romance and mysteries, just like the books she reads. She finds out that the mines are full of the ore osblindium. It is restricted to these Colorado mines, and is very profitable. She makes the ‘Grubs’ aware of the situation, and eventually they all decide to stay in the town, and mine this ore. The once ghost town begins to return to roaring town it once was, and draws many people to live and work here.
This story lack excitement and enthusiasm. It was hard to hold the reader attention. I found it rather boring and not one that would appeal too many of our students.
(265 pages)
Arley is a sixteen year-old independent young woman who runs a dilapidated boarding house in the town of Grubstake, Colorado. She is also the owner of a mine, which her late father left her. This once booming mining town is now a ghost town of sixty-eight inhabitants. The mines have dried up and most of the miners have left the town. Enter Mr. Lockwood, a stranger dressed in black who rides into town on a black horse. This slick city character offers to pay big money for all the abandon mines. Almost all of the ‘Grubs,’ the townspeople, want to sell their mines and move on. Arley seems it is very suspicious. She becomes a detective along with Everdene, the tavern owner and Bridget, the bar maid, to find out what are the real intentions of Mr. Lockwood. An avid reading of the Penny Dreadfuls reading series, she finds herself involved in romance and mysteries, just like the books she reads. She finds out that the mines are full of the ore osblindium. It is restricted to these Colorado mines, and is very profitable. She makes the ‘Grubs’ aware of the situation, and eventually they all decide to stay in the town, and mine this ore. The once ghost town begins to return to roaring town it once was, and draws many people to live and work here.
This story lack excitement and enthusiasm. It was hard to hold the reader attention. I found it rather boring and not one that would appeal too many of our students.
(265 pages)
February 10, 2016
This book has a special place in my heart. I read this book when i was a bit younger. and loved it. But i decided to re-read it. This book is about a down on its luck mining town called Grubstake. The residents are mainly miners. But something is in their mines that they don't know about. A man in all black shows up named Morgan. The book follows Arley, A boarding house owner. She rents him a room and starts snooping around. With her dogs constantly ruining everything she does. She finds out that the mines may have a rare mineral called Osblindium. And a company named Lockwood Ltd. May know something about it. Eventually Lockwood tries to buy all the mines in the town, raising even more suspicion. Most miners then leave the town. Arley does not sell her mine, Knowing it's value. She catches one of the lockwood agents in her mine. And knows it has Osblindium in it. She then becomes rich and moves away from Grubstake. This is a short summary. If you have the time, i highly recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews