What do you think?
Rate this book
Hello There, I'm Coming Home!: Book Three in the Hello There Trilogy
The morning that Madison heads off to Bainbridge Island to reunite with best friends Violet and Noah for summer vacation, a photo of a mysterious stranger shows up in her new magic fanny pack. One look at the black-haired boy, and she instantly knows that he needs her help. And so the three kids set out on a quest to find him. Once again, it’s the MegaPix 6000 to the rescue! The intrepid trio zaps through the portal of the magic TV, diving into a world of magicians, greed, and breathtakingly evil spells. It’s a journey that helps Madison to discover that sometimes life changes in unimaginable ways, and that the unexpected can finally lead her home.
224 pages, Paperback
Published April 2, 2019
9 people want to read
About the author
Laurie B. Arnold
4 books12 followersLaurie grew up in Los Angeles, moving steadily up the west coast after high school, and now lives in a house on a rocky beach on Bainbridge Island, WA. where contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t rain every day. Not that she doesn’t welcome the drippy skies. On dreary days she stays happily glued to her office chair, tapping away on her computer instead of being tempted outside into her garden when the sun is out.
Laurie has written and designed over 50 interactive games for kids featuring original characters such as Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear for Humongous Entertainment; and Huggly for Scholastic; plus many characters who you probably know and may even love as much as she does – Madeline, Little Bear, Harry Potter, The Little Mermaid, Clifford, SpongeBob, and Mr. Potato Head - and lots of others that frankly, she’s lost track of, whose scripts are chronicled somewhere on an old hard drive hidden on a shelf in the garage. She also wrote a trio of picture books based on Putt-Putt (the little purple car – not the mini-golf game).
Laurie has had stints writing scripts for animated children’s TV shows such as Dragon Tales for PBS and What-a-Mess for ABC. Unfortunately What-a-Mess lasted only a season. It was about an out-of-control Afghan puppy who wreaked havoc everywhere he went. Mostly she was disappointed that the show got the axe because she had so many stories left to tell based on her own Labrador retriever who had such an insatiable appetite that he devoured a couch and ate all the seat belts in her car. She’s decided to save her dog’s crazy appetite for another book.
And finally, after both of her sons moved off to college, she figured it was time to try to her hand at writing a novel. Hello There, We’ve Been Waiting for You! is the first in a trilogy and her first published novel.
Laurie has written and designed over 50 interactive games for kids featuring original characters such as Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear for Humongous Entertainment; and Huggly for Scholastic; plus many characters who you probably know and may even love as much as she does – Madeline, Little Bear, Harry Potter, The Little Mermaid, Clifford, SpongeBob, and Mr. Potato Head - and lots of others that frankly, she’s lost track of, whose scripts are chronicled somewhere on an old hard drive hidden on a shelf in the garage. She also wrote a trio of picture books based on Putt-Putt (the little purple car – not the mini-golf game).
Laurie has had stints writing scripts for animated children’s TV shows such as Dragon Tales for PBS and What-a-Mess for ABC. Unfortunately What-a-Mess lasted only a season. It was about an out-of-control Afghan puppy who wreaked havoc everywhere he went. Mostly she was disappointed that the show got the axe because she had so many stories left to tell based on her own Labrador retriever who had such an insatiable appetite that he devoured a couch and ate all the seat belts in her car. She’s decided to save her dog’s crazy appetite for another book.
And finally, after both of her sons moved off to college, she figured it was time to try to her hand at writing a novel. Hello There, We’ve Been Waiting for You! is the first in a trilogy and her first published novel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 13, 2019
In the newest addition to the Hello There series, Madison is headed to Bainbridge Island, in Washington State to see her hometown and visit with her best friends Noah, Violet, and Rosalie Claire. Meanwhile, her grandmother Florida is headed to Florida with Grandpa Jack for a little R&R. On the morning of her trip, Madison finds a mysterious photo in her magic fanny pack. There's something about this sad looking boy wearing a hoodie that makes her feel like he is in trouble and could really use her help. If only she could see his face in the photograph. Once Madison is reunited with her friends, she gets the first hint to the boy's identity when she glimpses an iconic symbol from Pikes Place Market in the photo, so staking out the Market is their first order of business.
The story is also about Madison coming back to her hometown after being gone for a while. It captures that feeling of coming home or seeing the places you remember again for the first time. Sometimes with fresh eyes. Madison reminisces about moments she shared with her mother, the stores they frequented, street signs she recognizes and ventures to her childhood home, a place she hasn't visited since her mother died. All aching reminders of how much she misses her mother. You feel Madison's grief over her mother's death, how being here is difficult for her. Bringing up old memories is hard. There's a really sweet moment when Madison looks up and sees the clouds and she can't help thinking of her mother up there watching down on her. It reminded me that I feel the exact same way every time I see a train, how simply seeing that object causes me to smile and fondly remember a person who was so important to me.
When the boy from the photograph turns out to be Madison's estranged father now turned teenager, she is thrown for a loop. For the longest time, she had thought she was an orphan. Then to find out that her father is stuck as a sixteen-year-old kid because his magical shapeshifting amulet was stolen, is a lot to digest. Plus who wants their dad to be stuck close to their age? And it also brings up some interesting questions, like if her dad becomes an adult again how will that change her life? On the one hand, Madison really wants to reconnect with him and get to know him better but finds herself struggling to reconcile what her father is telling her about mother with who she knows her mother to be. Can she believe him?
As I said in my review of book two, I really like the premise of using the MegaPix 6000 to portal into a T.V. show, it makes the magic system relatable and entertaining. I've often wondered myself what it would be like to step into a painting or to travel back in time, but a television show also sounds like a lot of fun to me. Madison teleported into a magician's televised magic performance, but me, I'd love to step into Downtown Abbey or maybe even Happy Days if I had the chance. I also really liked that Madison couldn't alter the past or undo her dad being transformed into a kid. That she had to bring the events into the present to fix the mistake. The characters are easy to relate to and their emotions and actions seemed natural. For example, the way Madison felt awkward when Violet started to have feelings for Noah and she wanted to know if he felt the same way. Plus, I'm a sucker for a happy ending and especially love how the series felt complete.
Favorite Line: "Magic is like life. It doesn't come with guarantees. But it always comes with possibilities."
* A review copy was provided by Rebecca Grose from SoCal Public Relations in exchange for an honest review*
The story is also about Madison coming back to her hometown after being gone for a while. It captures that feeling of coming home or seeing the places you remember again for the first time. Sometimes with fresh eyes. Madison reminisces about moments she shared with her mother, the stores they frequented, street signs she recognizes and ventures to her childhood home, a place she hasn't visited since her mother died. All aching reminders of how much she misses her mother. You feel Madison's grief over her mother's death, how being here is difficult for her. Bringing up old memories is hard. There's a really sweet moment when Madison looks up and sees the clouds and she can't help thinking of her mother up there watching down on her. It reminded me that I feel the exact same way every time I see a train, how simply seeing that object causes me to smile and fondly remember a person who was so important to me.
When the boy from the photograph turns out to be Madison's estranged father now turned teenager, she is thrown for a loop. For the longest time, she had thought she was an orphan. Then to find out that her father is stuck as a sixteen-year-old kid because his magical shapeshifting amulet was stolen, is a lot to digest. Plus who wants their dad to be stuck close to their age? And it also brings up some interesting questions, like if her dad becomes an adult again how will that change her life? On the one hand, Madison really wants to reconnect with him and get to know him better but finds herself struggling to reconcile what her father is telling her about mother with who she knows her mother to be. Can she believe him?
As I said in my review of book two, I really like the premise of using the MegaPix 6000 to portal into a T.V. show, it makes the magic system relatable and entertaining. I've often wondered myself what it would be like to step into a painting or to travel back in time, but a television show also sounds like a lot of fun to me. Madison teleported into a magician's televised magic performance, but me, I'd love to step into Downtown Abbey or maybe even Happy Days if I had the chance. I also really liked that Madison couldn't alter the past or undo her dad being transformed into a kid. That she had to bring the events into the present to fix the mistake. The characters are easy to relate to and their emotions and actions seemed natural. For example, the way Madison felt awkward when Violet started to have feelings for Noah and she wanted to know if he felt the same way. Plus, I'm a sucker for a happy ending and especially love how the series felt complete.
Favorite Line: "Magic is like life. It doesn't come with guarantees. But it always comes with possibilities."
* A review copy was provided by Rebecca Grose from SoCal Public Relations in exchange for an honest review*
Displaying 1 of 1 review