“The Rambling” is an eerie, intriguing, suspenseful and unique Middle Grade novel. It is a story of a boy’s self discovery in a very imaginative river country setting with  unmatched voice.

Buddy Pennington is headed off to river country to find his daddy who he feels he’d be better off living with.  His daddy is  a meandering soul who just happens to be a whiz at the card game,  Parsnit.   Parsnit is a mysterious card game of magic, chance and storytelling.  As soon as Buddy locates his dad, some of his Pop’s old adversaries arrive to take him away.  And,  Boss Authority, the magical crime lord who has terrorized the river country for years,  stands ready to collect on an old debt owed to him by Buddy’s  dad!  Thus Buddy sets out on a dangerous mission to save his dad and along the way must learn to play Parsnit with the best of them.

And  in this game your only as strong as the story you tell!

An adventure story at its best!  A  hard to put down tale that both boys and girls will become quickly engaged in.

Reviewed by Connie M. Smith, Breakwater School, Portland, ME