I think many grandchildren have a special relationship with their grandparents. Maybe it’s because when they were growing up the grandparents were the ones who spoiled them the most or maybe it’s just something that take a generations separation to experience. Still, that special bond seems to be there more often than not.
My grandmother on my mother’s side filled that role for me. She was the only grandmother I had since my father’s mother died when he was a child. She was also the grandparent I knew best as both my grandfathers died when I was relatively young. Some of my warmest memories are of when I would spend the weekend at her house, walking to the park, getting to buy a treat from the ice cream man, and just sitting on the porch swing.
The Grandmother Plot by Caroline B. Cooney features a relationship between Freddy, the main character and his grandmother. Much of Freddy’s behavior in the book is driven by his love for his grandmother. Sure, he makes lots of bad decisions too, but they all take a back seat to the behavior he chooses when he thinks about how she will be affected.
Freddy is not a very upstanding, nor law-abiding young man. He smokes dope and hangs around with some pretty sketchy people. However, when his three, socially responsible sisters are unable to care for their grandmother…they live too far, their lives are too busy, he’s the only one of them who doesn’t have other responsibilities…Freddy takes it on as his main activity. He visits her in her memory care facility multiple times every week and, after a resident is murdered, Freddy’s decisions are guided even more by considering whether or not someone is planning to do her harm.
Freddy has an unlikely friend in an older woman, Mrs. Maples (Mapes to Freddy), who is regularly at the facility to visit her cousin. He has developed loose friendships with some of the care workers, and is as much at home at the facility as anywhere. That is when he isn’t making glass beads and drug paraphernalia, but that’s not part of his life that he shares with his grandmother.
Now the two worlds are colliding as Freddy is being pulled into an illegal scheme. He wants no part of it, but the man running it doesn’t seem to want to take “no” for an answer. What lengths will he go to to get his way? Is Freddy’s Grandmother in danger.?
There are other parts to this story including Mapes penchant for abandoned musical instruments, care workers who have mixed approaches to their jobs, and life within a care center in general. Click the link above to read the full review.
I hope you have at least one grandparent with whom you’ve had a special relationship. Especially if you decide to read the book. For me, although I didn’t have ANY of the same experiences Freddy had, the relationship felt real to me, and of course I enjoyed the murder mystery part. Whatever book you decide to open next, I hope it brings you pleasure. Happy Reading.
