The Stolen Spruce: A Cottage Mystery

This is a non-stop story of the Maine woods that is rugged, convincing and different. It is about a search for an ancient boundary line and a vital long-lost corner tree by a boy, Tom Welden, who loves his farm home and must find the corner tree to prove his mother's ownership. Equally determined to prevent him is an unscrupulous timber owner and his band of renegade lumberjacks. Their vicious meeting in the depths of the Maine forest is part of this gripping mystery-adventure, told as only a born woodsman and writer could do it. More than an adventure story this book shows woodcraft in action as Tom and his friend, Mark Denton, learn surveying on the spot from old Angus McNabb. Woods lore, the art of living in the woods, the surveying of boundary lines in timberland, the thrill of being a boy in this wilderness in the company of an expert woodsman - all these things are told vividly, authentically, in an atmosphere of mounting excitement which does not reach its climax until the end of the book.Reviews of the book when it was originally written include a Kirkus Review which said, "Maine Woods background, a disputed timber plot mystery that is levelled at first year high school readers, but so simply written that eleven year olds will tackle it with ease. Another review, from the New York Times, said, "Faced with the loss of their farm home in the Maine woods, Mrs. Welden and her teen-age son, Tom, must locate the old boundary line of their thousand-acre spruce lot, claimed by an unscrupulous timber owner. . . In a series of fast, action-filled incidents, Tom reveals his courage and skill as a woodsman. The background of surveying in the Maine woods is well drawn, the dialogue of the Maine characters rings true." While this book is full of adventure and excitement for ages 9-14, it was written over 50 years ago and possessed some of the negative stereotypes common to those times in its original format. In bringing this book back, such attitudes have been revised thereby updating the content for today's young readers. Something new, as well, has been introduced: a mysterious cottage that entices the reader's imagination and explains how Tom's closest friend, Mark Denton, an orphan, came to live in the Maine woods among the lumberjacks.