Mum's the Word

Secrets of the Blue Hill Library Book #17

by Emily Thomas

When Anne finds an ancient Egyptian clay pot in the attic, which Aunt Edie excavated at an archaeological dig, she decides to put it on display in the library. But Mildred Farley takes one look at it, then trips and falls, suffering a badly sprained ankle. “It’s cursed!” she exclaims, visibly shaken by the artifact’s reappearance. Soon, all of Blue Hill is in an uproar, recounting various disasters brought on by the relic when Aunt Edie first brought it home forty years ago . . . and blaming every new accident, injury, and mishap in town on the curse. Is the pot really to blame for the current rash of strange, unfortunate events, or is someone using rumors and superstition to cover up a crime? Meanwhile, Ben makes friends with a new boy in town. But when he announces that, like his buddy, he’s not sure he believes in God and refuses to go to his youth class at church, Anne fears her son has fallen in with bad company. Should she put an end to the friendship? How can she navigate him through this crisis of faith?

Genres: Mystery

277 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Emily Thomas was born in London, and has lived there most of her life – except between the ages of 13 and 18 when she lived in Maldon in Essex on board a Thames Sailing Barge, with her family of seven assorted siblings and stepsiblings and two warring cats. Emily also works as an editor of many different kinds of books, including children’s and young adult fiction. She now lives in Brixton, with no pets and a lot of books.

Reviews

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 3 out of 5]

About this book:

“When Anne finds an ancient Egyptian clay pot in the attic, which Aunt Edie excavated at an archaeological dig, she decides to put it on display in the library. But Mildred Farley takes one look at it, then trips and falls, suffering a badly sprained ankle. “It’s cursed!” she exclaims, visibly shaken by the artifact’s reappearance. Soon, all of Blue Hill is in an uproar, recounting various disasters brought on by the relic when Aunt Edie first brought it home forty years ago . . . and blaming every new accident, injury, and mishap in town on the curse. Is the pot really to blame for the current rash of strange, unfortunate events, or is someone using rumors and superstition to cover up a crime?
Meanwhile, Ben makes friends with a new boy in town. But when he announces that, like his buddy, he’s not sure he believes in God and refuses to go to his youth class at church, Anne fears her son has fallen in with bad company. Should she put an end to the friendship? How can she navigate him through this crisis of faith?”


Series: Book #17 in the “Secrets of the Blue Hilly Library” series. Reviews of #1 Here, #2 Here, #3 Here, #4 Here, #5 Here, #6 Here, #7 Here, #8 Here, #9 Here, #10 Here, #11 Here, #12 Here, #13 Here, #14 Here, #15 Here, and #16 Here!


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, remembered, read, & discussed; Prayers; Church going & sermons; Talks about God & if He is real; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God, discussing with children that He is real, & faiths; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of Bibles & Scriptures; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, church groups, sermons, pastors, & hymns/songs; A couple mentions of godsends; A couple mentions of blessings & being blessed;
*Note: All about many mentions of a cursed clay pot, curses, & superstitions; Mentions of a father saying he has no use for God or religion & that in turn influences his son to say that God is make-believe (its later mentioned that the wife wants the son to go to church and a pastor comments that he thinks she might wear the pants in the family); A few mentions of haunted houses.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: two ‘sissy’s, two ‘stupid’, and three forms of ‘dumb’; A couple mentions of eye rolling; Mentions of thieves, break-ins, & a stolen item; Mentions of bullies, teasing, & fighting/fights; Mentions of frauds/scams; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of fires; A mention of domestic violence;
*Note: Mentions of books & authors; Mentions of movies; Mentions of car brands; Mentions of sports teams & players.


Sexual Content- Mentions of a husband leaving his family; Mentions of dates & a ladies’ man; A mention of flirting.

-Anne Gibson, age 34
P.O.V. of Anne
266 pages

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Pre Teens- One Star
New Teens- Two Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Four Stars
My personal Rating- Three Stars
While this one was not the most interesting book in this series to me (I’ve never been a big fan of Ancient Egypt stuff), it was still a fun read with quite a bit of faith content that I liked seeing.


Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogsp...


*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne finds a clay pot in the aunt that her aunt had dug up on a trip to Egypt 40 years ago. Her aunt’s friend sees it in the library and is afraid saying there is cruse on the pot and then she falls and hurts herself. More things start happening and Anne sets out to prove that it isn’t cursed before the town makes her close the library. Anne’s son is also having troubles with a new friend who makes his question his belief in God.

[Jacquie Stricklind · Rating 5 out of 5]

While Anne is searching for a hat in the attic for her daughter, Liddie, she finds an ancient Egyptian clay pot that her Aunt Edie excavated in Egypt. Anne put it on display in the library where Mildred Farley see it and exclaims that it is cursed, then trips and falls. Is the clay pot cursed, who took Mildred's scarab necklace in 1975,? Also, because strange things are happening to people, will the City Council close the library, and does Ben not believe that God is real, how does Anne handle these situations? Read this really good book to find out.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful read-made my hospital stay more pleasnt!

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great one.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne sets out to solve a 40-year old mystery in this great book in the Secrets of the Blue Hill Library series.