TRU LUUP: Vintage Fashion Girl, Mystery Slayer
TRU LUUP: Vintage Fashion Girl, Mystery Slayer
TRU LUUP: Vintage Fashion Girl, Mystery Slayer
Ellie Lawrence
Sixteen year old Tru Luup, a shy, smart, vintage clothes geek, found a pin in an antique chest. Upon inspection, she could see it was old. Ok, but she knew nothing about old jewelry. Tru works at a consignment shop called Second Hand Rose after school and she asked the owner for her advice, Mrs. Rose is a fountain of information about vintage clothes and estate jewelry. Tru just didn't mention that she's keeping the pin a secret. The mystery of the pin haunted her. Is it a family heirloom? It's old, possibly late eighteenth to early nineteenth century, and made in France — tiny gold hallmarks were stamped into the metal. A letter she found in her grandmother's desk possibly explained the origins of the pin, and the royal hair it might contain. But is the letter real? Could she believe the facts as she found them? They were hard to accept as true -- and impossible to ignore. What if the pin is too valuable to keep secret? There was braided hair in a locket compartment at the back of the pin and it was the same color as Tru’s. Coincidence? What did her grandmother know about the pin, and did she intend for Tru to find it? Since the divorce, Mom was always needing money. Dad had remarried and started a new family. Tru had two houses to live in and no home. Her grandmother's house, well, that was where she really wanted to be, but Gram died and the house was sold. Dismissing Tru’s objections, Mom sent Gram’s beautiful things to an auction house. They would sell everything Tru had come to love. Mom found the pin, and Tru was in big trouble. Her mother refused to believe any of the facts that Tru had spent so many hours researching. A bitter argument followed. Tru was grounded. Mom said she couldn't work for Mrs.Rose anymore. That's when it all changed. Tru couldn't live by the rules anymore. She was going to get the pin back before it was too late. But how? Her best friend Casey, a sk8er girl with a flip phone who knows all the lyrics to Suite: Judy Blue Eyes by Crosby, Stills, and Nash, was fearless. Tru always did as she was told. Until now. The girls set off to the city to try to get the pin back, although it may be too late. How will she get anyone to believe her story?Tru discovers a determination she never knew she had. Home is where the heart is, and Tru was following hers. In the process she learns that vintage clothes are one just one way of expressing who you are. Being yourself, and letting the world know? Well, that’s just about the best thing anyone can wear.

Book Details

Genre: 

  • Mystery

Age Level: 

  • 12 and up
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