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The Mostly True Story of Jack

3.39 of 5 stars 3.39 · rating details · 900 ratings · 251 reviews

Enter a world where magic bubbles just below the surface. . . .

When Jack is sent to Hazelwood, Iowa, to live with his strange aunt and uncle, he expects a summer of boredom. Little does he know that the people of Hazelwood have been waiting for him for quite a long time.

When he arrives, three astonishing things happen: First, he makes friends -- not imaginary friends but a...more

Hardcover, 319 pages

Published August 2nd 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

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Newbery 2012

41st out of 136 books — 545 voters

DCL Mock Newbery 2012

24th out of 41 books — 27 voters

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Jul 22, 2011 Minli rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: middle-grade, speculative, contemporary

Jack has always felt invisible, even to his own family. When his parents get divorced and his home life falls apart, he's sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Iowa. But strange things begin to happen--first, he makes real friends, his aunt and uncle remember his name, and he draws the attention of the most powerful man in town who seems to want him dead. Why? Why is he suddenly so important here when back in San Francisco he was so effaced?

I finally picked up to this book due to critical prai...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Chris Murray rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: boy-book, fantasy, mystery, ya

Summary from Children's Literature Review:

Jack is confused when his mother takes him to live with relatives he doesn't know after announcing that she and his father are divorcing. They have no pictures of him and his mother shows no emotion at leaving him. It is as if he is not really part of the family. Why is he left in an oddly painted house that emits warmth and seems to shudder? Legend has it that there is an underworld beneath Hazelwood, originally ruled by a Guardian that has been divide...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, j, legends-and-lore, not-graphic

There is no utter truth or utter falsehood in this world. There is only mostly. Which part of the mostly you choose to accept, well, that much is up to you.

-----

I did not know at the time the power of the declaration of Ownership. To call something Mine carries a great significance anywhere, but infinitely more so on the site of a Magic Eruption. Here, the words Mine and Yours carry a terrible significance--the consequences of which I am only beginning to understand.

-----

"But that's just--" Jack...more There is no utter truth or utter falsehood in this world. There is only mostly. Which part of the mostly you choose to accept, well, that much is up to you.

-----

I did not know at the time the power of the declaration of Ownership. To call something Mine carries a great significance anywhere, but infinitely more so on the site of a Magic Eruption. Here, the words Mine and Yours carry a terrible significance--the consequences of which I am only beginning to understand.

-----

"But that's just--" Jack stopped. He was about to say that is was just a story, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. . . . "Even if it is true, it doesn't have anything to do with me."

Clive shook his head impatiently. "It has everything to do with you."

-----

Really, at the heart of things, Jack wants--has always wanted--just one thing: To be totally and fully loved. To be noticed and understood. To belong. To have friends and family members that each say, "You are Mine," and to mean it with a capital "M".

Unfortunately, he seems to be getting the exact opposite. He has always felt invisible, not noticed at all by most people and barely noticed by his parents. Now his mom and dad are divorcing, and his mom is taking him to stay with his aunt and uncle until everything settles down. In a small town in the middle of nowhere Iowa. And his mom won't even give him a hug or look him in the eye as she leaves him. Invisible and unwanted.

He quickly learns Hazelwood is a strange place and his aunt and uncle are strange people. They talk of magic as though it is real, which Jack knows can't be the case. True, his letters and phone calls to his parents keep getting misdirected, as does his attempt to leave town on his own. But that's just strangeness, not magic. Right? But the evidence keeps piling up until Jack can no longer deny there might be something to it. And the magic and strangeness all seems to be centered on . . . him.

I loved many of the elements of this book, but they never quite gelled into the truly satisfying whole I was hoping for. Good enough to recommend, good enough to keep following the author, just not quite a home run. There was a lot of promise, but the plot, characters, and atmosphere all needed to be just a bit more, well, magical.(less)

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Aug 01, 2012 Spark740 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Ok, so obviously a lot of people do not agree with my five star, so let me just say that I can see how someone would not enjoy this book. But I enjoyed it.

1) CLEAN. Ok. So I think Wendy said "oh God" maybe thrice. Jack did kindofnotreally kiss her, which is totally dumb because he's barely double digits. But that lets one totally disregard it. So I read this book without my brain being affronted by mind-numbing and completely unnecessary extensions of romance.
2) INTERESTING. Most books I can r...more Ok, so obviously a lot of people do not agree with my five star, so let me just say that I can see how someone would not enjoy this book. But I enjoyed it.

1) CLEAN. Ok. So I think Wendy said "oh God" maybe thrice. Jack did kindofnotreally kiss her, which is totally dumb because he's barely double digits. But that lets one totally disregard it. So I read this book without my brain being affronted by mind-numbing and completely unnecessary extensions of romance.
2) INTERESTING. Most books I can read a couple chapters and toss it aside. This one totally completely intrigued me (till about 4/5 of the way through, but by then it's ok to take a breather). Everything matched up so well. Sometimes I talk out loud when I'm interested in a book; I did with this one. Specifically, "Oh THAT's his stone!!! OOOoooooooh! He has that STONE!!!!" Although it wasn't a mystery, I enjoyed all the little magical clues lining up.
3) UNUSUAL. It just was. It's like My Name is Asher Lev (prose) meets Harry Potter meets The Great Good Thing.

Everything is so different yet it all blends together well; the characters, being very young, are not extreme wells of character, and although some might pine for more depth, it really wouldn't be realistic that way. I loved the part where Reginald is having tea with Clive and Mabel; something about the way she put her teacup down seemed very, very dangerous to him. The ending has enough plot twists to make one keep reading, and although I was not entirely satisfied with the whole two-sides-of-his-mother thing, it leaves room for a sequel.

Anyways, this book was really a breath of fresh air - I originally picked it up because I was hunting for a book with a guy as the main character. And I really liked it. I was really not expecting anything in the novel to happen as it did, yet it all made sense in the end.

Now. where I don't have to be all polished. Sure, Kelly COULD have written it from Wendy's POV but aren't there enough books with ass-kicking female characters soaking up the stage with their emerging stereotype class out there? (the answer is yes. Rhetorical question.) ALSO. I know it's nice to be gently eased into a world but really, I'm not sure how many young adults are out there reviewing young adult fiction. We generally aren't the type to want to be eased into something. I enjoyed being smacked right into motherly houses and guard cats and invisible people.
(less)

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Jul 25, 2012 Kaitlyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked this book up expecting a fairy tale type story, since Jack is such a common fairy tale name. And it had bits of that, yes. But it was a very strange book.
It felt like the beginning of a series for most of the story, though I guess it wrapped up well enough. I have to admit, the writing style was rather trite and felt like a hundred other books I've read. However, the setting and background story made me feel as if I'd been thrown into the middle of a world, like I ought to already know...more

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Apr 04, 2012 Natalie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found this book extremely confusing. I actually started reading it, put it down and had to force myself to pick it up again and finish it.. I do think the author did a good job in writing the book, creating the characters and twisting the plot. However, I, like others I'm sure, got frustrated with the way that the mystery kept being drawn out. I also got confused by many things going on. I had questions like, who is this person again? How do they know so much? I even scratched my head and smad...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Cara M rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I first started to read this book, just picking it up at the library, a chill crept down my spine. A book about a boy who feels ignored by his parents, sent to stay with his aunt, a skateboard, a crumbling old house, a parent who is split in two. Was this the soul of my own book come back to haunt me? But as I continued one, I was drawn into this book's own story and mythology, heavily drenched in old world fairytales, the green man, the children in the corn, and bursting with power, yours...more

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Mar 06, 2012 IndyPL Kids Book Blog rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

If you’ve ever felt forgotten or ignored at home then you can probably relate to Jack. But when you read about what HIS Mom and Dad are like, you might not feel so ignored after all. Something weird is going on with Jack’s family and you can tell right away because Jack’s Mom…she can’t even remember his NAME.

Jack’s mother pointed at Jack, her face slack and dreamy. She narrowed her eyes and snapped her fingers a couple of times as though trying to remember something. Jack pressed his hand to his...more If you’ve ever felt forgotten or ignored at home then you can probably relate to Jack. But when you read about what HIS Mom and Dad are like, you might not feel so ignored after all. Something weird is going on with Jack’s family and you can tell right away because Jack’s Mom…she can’t even remember his NAME.

Jack’s mother pointed at Jack, her face slack and dreamy. She narrowed her eyes and snapped her fingers a couple of times as though trying to remember something. Jack pressed his hand to his chest. “Jack?” he said, prompting her. “right,” she said, bringing her hands to her face and furrowing her brow. “Jack.” (page 18)

And then you find out that at Jack’s house all of the pictures everywhere in the house are of his brother Baxter. There are no pictures of Jack, and isn’t just because his pictures didn’t get chosen for the walls. There are no pictures of him anywhere in any photo album either.

And so you understand that there is something very, very odd going on and no one in his life is talking…until his parent divorce and he is sent to Hazelwood, Iowa to live for a while with his Aunt Mabel and Uncle Clive - two people he has never heard mentioned before. There is something strange about the Aunt and Uncle too, because they seem to know Jack, in fact, they have PICTURES.

“It’s me” he whispered, and he knew it was true: a picture of himself — sitting in Clive and Mabel’s living room — as a little boy. The only pictureof him, as far as he knew, in existence. (page 56)

When Jack tries to write his parents a letter and the letters keep disappearing you know something moe is up than a family secret because the letters are not simply gone, like somebody stole them…the paper Jack wrote the letters on goes blank, like a chalkboard wiped clean, like nobody every wrote on it at all.

Creeped out yet? You will be. : ) In Iowa Jack finds himself in the middle of a big mystery starring himself. It isn’t just Jack that seems to have vanished from Hazelwood, other children have too. Where are they and what does it have to do with Jack? In Hazelwood Jack makes the first friends of his life and together they begin to unravel some powerful, magical secrets. Jack is a whole lot more than what he first appears. No way will you ever, ever figure out where this author is going until you get there. Trust me. Author: Kelly Barnhill

For more: http://www.imcpl.org/kids/blog/?p=11424 (less)

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Mar 01, 2012 Mary rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s

I can't think of a kid who would really like this book. Only the most patient, persistent young reader would get through it and then they'd probably be disappointed by the somewhat adult message at the end.
The story begins with Jack's mother dropping him off for the summer at the house of his eccentric aunt and uncle - as she drops him off, she seems to be forgetting all about him. Odd things begin to happen to Jack, some of which are explained in a book he's given by Uncle Clive about magic tha...more

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 13, 2012 Barb Middleton rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

n this fantasy/creation story/mystery (pick your genre), Kelly Barnhill unravels a compelling story about Jack, who is sent to stay with his Aunt and Uncle in a house that literally moves, because his parents are getting a divorce. Jack makes friends with Wendy, Anders, and Frankie as the four try to uncover the mystery of why children are disappearing in their town called, Hazelwood, Iowa.

This story is well-written, creepy, weird, fun, and abstract. By abstract, I mean it deals with the spiritu...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Elizabeth K. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-new-reads

My problem right out of the gate is that this a genre I have never been much fond of to begin with. I've never bought into the entire Midwestern town being fueled by magic ... maybe I'm too pragmatic, but it starts raising a whole lot of TQM flags for me, a entire town, that's a lot of infrastructure to deal with.

And there's too much magic in this book for my taste. I guess this is (view spoiler)...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Charlyn Trussell rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Gr. 5 and up

Shelves: adventure, bullying, fantasy, fiction, friendship, magic, mystery

Children often feel discarded when parents divorce, but, in Jack's case, he really is sent away and forgotten. And therein lies the mystery of the book: what has happened to children who have vanished and then been forgotten in the town of Hazelwood, Iowa, where Jack has been taken to live with his aunt and uncle?

The premise of this book is quite different from so many other fantasy books on the market and also quite similar in that a child who not yet knows his own way through life is sent to b...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 02, 2011 Destinee Sutton rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: tween, middle-grade, fractured-fairy-tales, magical-realism, guy-reads

Honestly, this book frustrated me. In my mind, there's a limit to how long the author should keep the reader in suspense, and TMTSOJ mostly exceeded that limit. I was more than halfway through when I grew so frustrated I actually said, "Come on! Get on with it!" out loud. In a way that's a good thing. I cared enough about the characters and the plot to feel as confused and impatient as the character Jack himself probably did. On the other hand, I obviously disliked the overlong setup. So I'm not...more

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Nov 23, 2011 Dana rated it 5 of 5 stars

This story is truly captivating. It is suspenseful and well written and unique. It is the story of Jack, who has been ignored and felt invisible for all of his life, until his parents split up and he is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Iowa. Suddenly, people notice him. A lot. He makes his first friends and learns that magic exists and he is a part of it. The setting and characters are richly and well developed and the story draws you into it just as the children are drawn in as well.
We f...more

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Sep 15, 2011 Jodi Papazian rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-books, ya-reads

Looking for something to recommend to my "tween" readers, I grabbed The Mostly True Story of Jack. This was a bit of an "eh" book for me. It was a bit difficult for me to plug through and I found a lot of the parts kind of boring.
After feeling invisible for most his life, Jack is sent to spend the summer with an aunt and uncle he doesn't know. However, he soon fnds that they, along with the others in the town, know a great deal about him. His uncle keeps pressing Jack to read a book on the his...more

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Jul 22, 2011 Heidi rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I started reading this book, I was impressed with two things. First, the writing was excellent, it flowed smoothly allowing the reader to focus on the story rather than the writing. Second, the story was kind of weird and I'm not really into weird, many of the kids I work with are into weird but I'm not. So I was tempted to put the book down and go onto something else. But then I decided that wasn't fair, especially since the book had been mentioned as a Newbery contender by one of my favo...more When I started reading this book, I was impressed with two things. First, the writing was excellent, it flowed smoothly allowing the reader to focus on the story rather than the writing. Second, the story was kind of weird and I'm not really into weird, many of the kids I work with are into weird but I'm not. So I was tempted to put the book down and go onto something else. But then I decided that wasn't fair, especially since the book had been mentioned as a Newbery contender by one of my favorite bloggers, A Fuse #8 Production. And I also have a hard time putting a book down without finishing it, I know that's silly, but that's the way I am. So I finished the book.

The plot line is definitely unique, I can't say I've read another book like it, ever (and I've read hundreds of books in my lifetime). I was really impressed at the way that Barnhill slowly revealed bits and pieces of the puzzle, which kind of makes the book a mystery, but it doesn't really feel like one. This would be a great book to hand to kids who want a mystery, but not a formulaic one.

Being a geography fan, setting is something I pay a great deal of attention to. Here, once again, Barnhill excels. The reader quickly gets a feel for this town that is in some ways like any other small town, but in other ways very unique. Here's an example,

It was an old wooden farmhouse with a large porch, wide windows, and a small round porthole at the roof's peak. And it was purple. A deep, rich purple so intense it almost seemed to vibrate. Jack squinted. The front door was bright green and the trim of each window was painted a different color: red, yellow, orange, and blue.

You have to admit, that is a very intriguing description of the house that Jack comes to stay in. The reader realizes almost immediately that this is an unusual house. Barnhill has taken the regular world around us and given it a very interesting twist.

The characters I had a hard time with at first. Jack, who has spent most of his life being semi-invisible, has little interest in this new place or the people who live there, at least not at first. I found this hard to relate to, probably because I find the world a fascinating place. But slowly as I read, I realized that Jack was doing what many of us do when faced with changes that shake the very foundations of everything we though we knew. He was trying to ignore it. Of course, he eventually realizes the futility of this.

As I continued to read, I also began to connect with the other characters, Wende, the girl who is so determined to find out everything she can so she can protect those she loves. Frankie, the boy with the scars, both inside and out, whom everyone underestimates. Interestingly, I also started to feel compassion for the 'villain' of the story and his bully son. There aren't a lot of books, where I feel sorry for the villain. This happens to be one of them.

It turns out that this is one of the best books I've read this year and definitely worthy of Newbery consideration. I highly recommend it for all who enjoy interesting characters, an interesting setting, and a willingness to accept the weird. I'm thinking I might try it as a read-a-loud. There is certainly much that is worthy of discussion.(less)

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Jan 25, 2012 Suzanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: juvenile-fiction

Looking at the cover of this book made me think "what is he? Plant, person, what?" This fairytale is intriguing to say the least. I am not even sure where to begin... This story is not a creation story, but it does tell of "forces" (mother nature"?) that grip us and earth and begin to explain happenings. Jack begins as a normal-seeming boy to us. Then we realize there is something other worldly about him. Most people ignore him as if he is not there; only certain people (those more sensitive tha...more

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Sep 05, 2011 Antof9 rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-read, couldn-t-put-it-down, first-novel, good-for-decking, kidlit, liberry, mothers, wanna-change-the-ending

This book was part "Scumble" and part "The Girl Who Could Fly", and part something else. Maybe the story of Persephone? I'm not sure, honestly. I sped through the majority of the book, which I found creepily fascinating, but when I got to the end, I sort of felt like there was no there there. It didn't seem like any lesson was learned and it wasn't a morality tale ... in fact, it seemed to say that the best way to function is to embrace both your good and bad sides. Or something.

I did like it --...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Danelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fairy-tales, fantasy-supernatural-paranormal, childrens

Jack, a boy from San Diego, has to move to Hazelwood, Iowa when his parents finally decide to go through with a divorce. Jack has always felt invisible - to his parents, classmates, neighbors, really, to everyone. He's plopped down in Hazelwood to live with his eccentric Aunt Mabel and Uncle Clive. And suddenly he isn't invisible. It seems he stands out more than he ever has and people are constantly taking notice of him - but why? It's as if the people of Hazelwood (a few adults and a ragtag gr...more

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Dec 03, 2011 April rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: middle-grade, cybils, sci-fi, library

The Mostly True Story Of Jack by Kelly Barnhill is what I would consider to be a deeply unsettling book, especially for middle grade. Now, being unsettled ins’t bad. I’m still actually thinking about The Mostly True Story Of Jack. Kelly Barnhill’s writing plays on people’s fears without overt monsters.

Read the rest of my review here

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Nov 29, 2012 Nobody rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book was slow at the beginning, then gradually picked up speed as it got more exciting. 'The Mostly True Story of Jack' by Kelly Barnhill in the end was a pretty good book. How the life of Jack slowly began to unravil in front of us, was one of excitement and adventure. Wendy, Frankie, Anders, and every single character in this book had a story to tell, and had their own spin to what happened and why. There was no background character, even the ones that only appeared once held a large signi...more

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Dec 21, 2011 Emmet O'Neal Library- Children's Department rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, fantasy, mystery

Did you ever feel like you didn't belong to your family, your life, or even your world? Jack felt this way for as long as he could remember. His family barely acknowledged him and his classmates didn't care enough about him to even bully him. He thought all this was normal until he moved to his Aunt and Uncles home, during his parents separation. This town is completely opposite of everything he's ever known. Everyone seems to know who he is and seem to be waiting for something involving him. Wi...more

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May 02, 2013 Jada Bennett rated it 4 of 5 stars

Well, I'm back again this week, not with four reviews like last time, only one, but I'm off from school today for conferences (Oh the horror) so I have more than enough time to type nonsensical babble about the various literature I've read. Let's get started~
So, considering that three out of the last four reviews I've done have included atleast one thing about how I misjudged the genre, let's get this out of the way now: Fantasy. The book is fantasy XD I'm sure of it.
This (fantasy) book revolves...more Well, I'm back again this week, not with four reviews like last time, only one, but I'm off from school today for conferences (Oh the horror) so I have more than enough time to type nonsensical babble about the various literature I've read. Let's get started~
So, considering that three out of the last four reviews I've done have included atleast one thing about how I misjudged the genre, let's get this out of the way now: Fantasy. The book is fantasy XD I'm sure of it.
This (fantasy) book revolves around Jack-who could've possibly saw THAT coming?-as his mother forcibly relocates him to his previously unkown Aunt and Uncle's house in Iowa. But there's a catch: At his old home in San Francisco Jack had always been, well, invisible. But here in Iowa, it's as if everyone-scratch that, everything-has been waiting for him. And there's also a handful of other characters that prove to be of huge importance, like Frankie, Clive, or even Gog and Magog.
Overall, I loved this book. It's very well written, and describes things of all sorts beautifully. It makes it all-too-easy to get sucked in.
I've heard the complaint from both people who've read it and from reviews on here that it's a bit hard to follow the mystery of Jack. This probably stems from the fact that there's just so much going on between the many, important characters, and the plot, and the many other things that fly around. I personally got ready to have a huge problem with this, and was marking down everything in my head for later relevance, when I realized I was halfway through the book and hadn't gotten lost once :/
So I guess the level of difficulty kinda depends on the person. I, in genral, tend to over think things, so this may just be the reason as to why I had no problem, but I can understand other people's frustration.
That's about all I got as far as how bad it gets, except maybe the excessiveness of the last chapters (But it's in place nonetheless), so I still loved this book. Highly recommended :)
Oh, and can I just say I hate the star system on this app? I actually want to give it, like 4.5 out of 5 stars, but I can't D:(less)

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Oct 07, 2011 Libby rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: children, young-adult, scifi-fantasy

I spent over half of The Mostly True Story of Jack waiting to find out when I was going to learn out what was really going on in Hazelwood, and once I got to the climax of the book, I still wasn't sure. I think Barnhill has a good sense of the rules of her magic, but I never got that same sense. This would be my main criticism of the book. For example, I never understood quite what the Avery men got out of making deals with the evil "Lady"--even those callous enough not to care about the price t...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Denise rated it 4 of 5 stars

I finished Kelly Barnhill's "The Mostly True Story of Jack". Jack has lived in San Francisco his entire life but now things are changing. His parents are divorcing and his Mom is taking him to live in Iowa for the summer. He'll be livng with an Aunt & Uncle he doesn't know, in a town where he has no friends, But that is nothing new, he doesn't have friends in San Francisco either. There he seems to be invisible. The night before he leaves his older brother Baxter, who has always ignored him,...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Gwen the Librarian rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, kidlit

This utterly original story pits two halves of Mother Nature against themselves after a greedy man learns to control the magic of the earth.

When Jack moves to Iowa to stay with his aunt and uncle, it is immediately clear that things in their town are very strange. For one thing, no one has ever really noticed Jack before, and here, many people can see him - enough for him to make friends, get into trouble, and be picked on by a bully. There's also a history of kids disappearing, a house that se...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Sarah W rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: middle-grade, young-adult, fantasy, fey, 2011

Photos are everywhere. People take them with their phones. They hang on walls, sit on desks and even appear on key chains. They little the web from Facebook to online scrapbooks. Yet the first time Jack sees a photo of himself it is in the back of a book given to him by his uncle he doesn't remember meeting before taken in a house Jack swears he never visited.

Finding a photograph of himself isn't the only new thing to happen to Jack when his parents' dissolving marriage sends him to Hazelwood,...more

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Oct 15, 2011 Erica K rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, childrens, mock-newberry

I originally thought this book was going to be an engaging read - the synopsis told of a boy who is normally overlooked and ignored, moves to a new town, and immediately garners the attention of several different people. However, rather than feeling drawn in by the mystery of the story, I found myself a little bored with the pacing and the lack of information provided. It's one thing to carefully construct a plot that keeps the reader wanting to know more, providing bits of information and cliff...more

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Sep 13, 2011 Renee rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: paw

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Summary: Jack is practically invisible at home, but when his parents send him to Hazelwood, Iowa, to spend a summer with his odd aunt and uncle, he suddenly makes friends, is beaten up by the town bully, and is plotted against by the richest man in town.

I don't really know how I feel about this book. I am not really into fantasy and magic so I feel like I usually dismiss a book just because the topic isn't of interest of mine. I find those types of books hard to get into.

More plot information:...more

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Nov 14, 2011 Jackie Liu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ok-books

This book is about mystery, magic, bravery, good, bad and friendship. It's a sweet book. Kelly Barnhill did a very good job to impress me with her writings of this book.
The Mostly True Story of Jack is about a young aged boy that is very lonely, very invisible and very unnoticed. Jack's mother and Father have split up and Jack has to move to a new town called Hazelwood. Hazelwood is a very unusual place, unlike any other town in the world. When Jack comes to Hazelwood, he doesn't know he has wok...more

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About Kelly Barnhill

I'm a writer, a mom, a wife, a dog owner, a reader, a thinker, a hiker, a friend, a runner, a teacher, a listener, terrible gardener, a lover of nature. Sometimes I'm all of these things at once.

I'm also a former bartender, former park ranger, former waitress, former church janitor, former kosher meat slicer, former wild-eyed activist, former wildland firefighter, former coffee jerk, former phon...more

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“A person's soul is bigger than his body. It takes root and lives in all who love him.” — 11 people liked it

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title link	preview: The Mostly True Story of Jack
avg rating	preview: The Mostly True Story of Jack Goodreads rating: 3.39 (900 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9464855-the-mostly-true-story-of-jack?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1291245318l/9464855.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9464855-the-mostly-true-story-of-jack?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Mostly True Story of Jack by Kelly Barnhill[/url]

The Mostly True Story of Jack

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