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The movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby. I closed my eyes to the dusty countryside and imagined the sign I’d seen only in Gideon’s stories: Manifest—A Town with a rich past and a bright future.Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.
Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it’s just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.”
Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest’s history is full of colorful and shadowy characters—and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest’s secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town.Powerful in its simplicity and rich in historical detail, Clare Vanderpool’s debut is a gripping story of loss and redemption.

《长青藤国际大奖小说书系：阿比琳的夏天》讲述了一个在夏天里等待爸爸的小女孩，与一个改变小镇命运的好故事之间的奇遇。这个夏天，阿比琳独自到爸爸的故乡小镇去过暑假。在放假前的最后一堂课上，古怪的修女老师给她布置了一份特殊的暑假作业。同时，阿比琳在寄居的酒鬼牧师家，偶然发现了一个装着旧信件和纪念品的神秘香烟盒，信中提到了一个代号为响尾蛇的“间谍”。为了完成作业，抓到间谍，也为了了解爸爸闭口不谈的过去，阿比琳与年少老成的露西安、想象力极其丰富的莱蒂，在镇上开始了一系列令人啼笑皆非的打探。而所有谜团的答案、打开记忆之门的那把钥匙，就握在占卜女王、吉卜赛女人萨蒂的手中……作者克莱尔?范德普尔在这部纽伯瑞大奖处女作中，倾注了自己无限的深情，通过优美的语言、充满个性的人物塑造和细腻的环境描写，完成了这样一个血肉丰满、感人至深的好故事。也许“好地方从来不上地图”，但一个好故事必定会在读者的心中自动寻到永久的位置。