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Unclaimed Treasures
Willa, who wants to feel extraordinary, thinks that she's in love with the father of the boy next door until she realizes that her "ordinary" true love is the boy himself.
118 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1984
About the author
Patricia MacLachlan
134 books812 followersPatricia MacLachlan was born on the prairie, and always carried a small bag of prairie dirt with her wherever she went to remind her of what she knew first. She was the author of many well-loved novels and picture books, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal; its sequels, Skylark and Caleb's Story; and Three Names, illustrated by Mike Wimmer. She lived in western Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 2, 2022
So I never encountered any of Patricia MacLachlan's middle grade novels as a younger reader (and mostly because when MacLachlan was first becoming popular in the mid 1980s I was as an older teenager no longer reading or even all that interested in literature penned specifically for children or young adults, except for of course novels and short stories from the pens of personal favourites such as Frances Hodgson Burnett, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Astrid Lindgren, Erich Kästner and Louisa May Alcott).
And albeit that due to our current retrospective of Patricia MacLachlan for the Fiction Club in the Children’s Literature Group (because of the author’s recent death), I was very much looking forward to finally reading Patricia MacLachlan, I do have to admit that thus far, after reading three of MacLachlan’s MG novels, I have for the most part been rather disappointed, and that honestly, with Unclaimed Treasures, I would consider Patricia MacLachlan's presented text and story thematically rather strange at best, on a personal reading pleasure level totally unrelatable and with a general premise so personally uninteresting and also problematic that Unclaimed Treasures has been a huge reading slog and chore (and that both my adult self and my inner teenager consider Unclaimed Treasures as a two star reading experience and one that I also am not even able to appreciate but mostly quite despise).
For indeed, with regard to main protagonist of Unclaimed Treasures Willa Pinkerton’s character (who also has a twin brother Nicholas who actually seems far more potentially textually interesting but is generally and constantly being annoyingly and frustratingly pushed by Patricia MacLachlan to the periphery of the story) and in particular with Willa’s constant obsessions with (and at the young age of twelve) finding her one true and all encompassing love, this really does not at all work well for me, rendering Willa’s search for love, love, love and more love throughout Unclaimed Treasures tediously dragging, uninteresting and also if truth be told more than a trifle strange and even at times bordering on creepiness (and that at the age of twelve, I was most definitely not interested in love and in the so called opposite sex, and certainly not in the obsessive manner that Willa Pinkerton is being described by Patricia MacLachlan).
Furthermore, Willa’s romantic and ridiculous obsession in Unclaimed Treasures with the poet Matthew also and majorly leaves a rather massively disgusting reading flavour for me, since Matthew is not only old enough to be Willa’s father (middle aged, likely in his mid to late 40s), he, Matthew also seemingly tries to encourage Willa’s obsession with him and even asks her to pose as his model.
And for me personally (especially as an adult reader but I would have also found this state of affairs strange and creepy in 1984, when Unclaimed Treasures was first published) all of this feels at best pretty strange and weird for a middle grade novel (at least in my humble opinion) and in particular so since Patricia MacLachlan from where I am standing also does not really textually ever consider the scenario of Willa Pinkerton’s obsession with a male poet much older than her as being potentially problematic in Unclaimed Treasures (and not to mention that on page four and five of Unclaimed Treasures MacLachlan also describes with not even a hint that this might be an issue or a bit inappropriate with regard to a twelve year old girl that Willa Pinkerton’s father every night nuzzles his daughter’s neck and sings to her, something that might not be significant if Willa were still a toddler but is in my humble opinion not alright for a twelve year old).
And albeit that due to our current retrospective of Patricia MacLachlan for the Fiction Club in the Children’s Literature Group (because of the author’s recent death), I was very much looking forward to finally reading Patricia MacLachlan, I do have to admit that thus far, after reading three of MacLachlan’s MG novels, I have for the most part been rather disappointed, and that honestly, with Unclaimed Treasures, I would consider Patricia MacLachlan's presented text and story thematically rather strange at best, on a personal reading pleasure level totally unrelatable and with a general premise so personally uninteresting and also problematic that Unclaimed Treasures has been a huge reading slog and chore (and that both my adult self and my inner teenager consider Unclaimed Treasures as a two star reading experience and one that I also am not even able to appreciate but mostly quite despise).
For indeed, with regard to main protagonist of Unclaimed Treasures Willa Pinkerton’s character (who also has a twin brother Nicholas who actually seems far more potentially textually interesting but is generally and constantly being annoyingly and frustratingly pushed by Patricia MacLachlan to the periphery of the story) and in particular with Willa’s constant obsessions with (and at the young age of twelve) finding her one true and all encompassing love, this really does not at all work well for me, rendering Willa’s search for love, love, love and more love throughout Unclaimed Treasures tediously dragging, uninteresting and also if truth be told more than a trifle strange and even at times bordering on creepiness (and that at the age of twelve, I was most definitely not interested in love and in the so called opposite sex, and certainly not in the obsessive manner that Willa Pinkerton is being described by Patricia MacLachlan).
Furthermore, Willa’s romantic and ridiculous obsession in Unclaimed Treasures with the poet Matthew also and majorly leaves a rather massively disgusting reading flavour for me, since Matthew is not only old enough to be Willa’s father (middle aged, likely in his mid to late 40s), he, Matthew also seemingly tries to encourage Willa’s obsession with him and even asks her to pose as his model.
And for me personally (especially as an adult reader but I would have also found this state of affairs strange and creepy in 1984, when Unclaimed Treasures was first published) all of this feels at best pretty strange and weird for a middle grade novel (at least in my humble opinion) and in particular so since Patricia MacLachlan from where I am standing also does not really textually ever consider the scenario of Willa Pinkerton’s obsession with a male poet much older than her as being potentially problematic in Unclaimed Treasures (and not to mention that on page four and five of Unclaimed Treasures MacLachlan also describes with not even a hint that this might be an issue or a bit inappropriate with regard to a twelve year old girl that Willa Pinkerton’s father every night nuzzles his daughter’s neck and sings to her, something that might not be significant if Willa were still a toddler but is in my humble opinion not alright for a twelve year old).
May 22, 2022
"There is a joy...in creating surprising insight into a character. The characters in my books become, for me, good friends, extended family members, or the brothers and sisters I never had. Books affect lives, especially children's lives, because children have a genuine belief in the truth of stories, the ultimate gift for the writer. It's a shared gift—from writer to reader and back again."
—Patricia MacLachlan
"You know what?" Willa had said to her father. "If you put all the letters of the alphabet in a box, there is every story ever written. Every story possible."
—Unclaimed Treasures, P. 18
Life is pedestrian for twelve-year-old Willa Pinkerton; as least, that's how she sees it. Her father is a college writing professor, the father of the boy next door (Horace Morris) is a talented artist, and the rest of the gaps fill in naturally with a quirky cast of characters most girls don't grow up influenced by, but these parts of her life are all too familiar for Willa to regard as extraordinary. Her mother is safely through the majority of her current pregnancy without significant health concern, but the anticipation of accepting a new sibling into the world doesn't feel extraordinary to Willa. Babies are born every day, every minute, just as frequently as people cross paths with a special someone and decide they've fallen in love. But the tempests of romantic entanglement feel far more interesting to Willa than the common experience of expecting a baby, though both are born of love. Willa is looking for a reason to throw herself head over heels into the feeling of first love, and she soon finds it in the dashing figure of her newest neighbor, Matthew, an artist. Matthew's son, Horace, meets Willa and her twin brother Nicky first, but it's Matthew who grabs Willa's fancy. His wife is off elsewhere seeking her fortune, a phrase never precisely elaborated on, leaving Willa to indulge her infatuation with Matthew more seriously, but also to observe the absence of a mother and see what it can do to a family when a parent puts doing something "extraordinary" above the needs of their child and spouse. Will this alter Willa's vision of what it means to be more than ordinary?
Willa's heart quickens when Matthew invites her to sit for a few weeks for a portrait that needs finishing, a picture he started to draw of Winnie, his wife, but now needs another model to complete. Willa fantasizes of the languid rapture of true love as written about in the stories that spill from the desk in her father's study, tales of young men and women with stars in their eyes as they satiate their innermost desires in mutual embrace. Her father's college students have such a way with words, Willa thinks. She lingers on what it would be like for Matthew to gaze dreamily into her eyes, telling her she means the world and more to him, and for her to eloquently return his adoration. As the portrait nears completion, Willa longs to confess to Matthew that she sees him as much more than the father of a friend, but is he capable of returning her feelings when his wife is still out there? Willa continues to be frustrated with her inability to draw a clear line between the ordinary and extraordinary in life so she can pursue the latter, but her stint as Matthew's model will clear up some of those questions, and point her in the direction of answers to the rest. Love, kindness, and sacrifice are of nobler purpose than Willa ever understood in her starstruck fantasies. A girl on the periphery of another family's life can have a longterm impact on their ability to move forward after a season of struggle, but only if she learns when to step in and when, hurt as it might, to step aside. It may be Willa's most eccentric neighbor, Old Pepper, who best defines the difference between the norm and the super-norm: "Maybe...the answer is that ordinary and extraordinary are the same thing. Morning light? The smell of grass? Who you are and what you think and how you live?" When one ceases trying to build a perfect life in favor of piecing together a simple, satisfying existence from the broken bits and pieces the world has left unclaimed, it can turn out to be an extraordinary life after all. Unclaimed treasures are apt to be the best kind, dusty jewels that need only a loving buff and polish to restore their natural luster. Then they're no longer unclaimed, and neither is the one who found them. How could Willa have guessed that nothing more than that is necessary to be extraordinary?
"Things are seldom as they seem. You must do better than just look."
—Unclaimed Treasures, P. 43
One of my favorite parts of the book is Willa's mother's explanation of why it wasn't hard for her to give up a potential dancing career after Willa and Nicky were born. That ambition mattered a great deal to their mother before, but once she cradled her baby son and daughter in her arms, everything but her love for them faded into the background. She didn't sacrifice her dancing because she didn't think she could succeed, or because she'd lost interest or didn't believe she was worthy of pursuing an interest that was only about herself. She gave up dancing despite the fact that it was worth excelling at, and she was worth the investment. A sacrifice without value is no sacrifice at all, but relinquishing her professional aspirations to take care of her children cost Willa's mother something dear. There was just never any question in her mind that they were worth letting go of her dancing career, and much, much more. May we all have someone (or two) in our lives for whom we would unblinkingly sacrifice our shot at being extraordinary.
I've read books by Patricia MacLachlan that touched me more than Unclaimed Treasures, but it's a nice story, and I appreciate it. The tone of the narrative is pleasant and gentle, and the characters are warm and wise, even (perhaps especially) the young ones. Unclaimed Treasures isn't likely to ever be as well-known as Sarah, Plain and Tall or All the Places to Love, but it will have its fans. You might become one of them if you give it a read.
—Patricia MacLachlan
"You know what?" Willa had said to her father. "If you put all the letters of the alphabet in a box, there is every story ever written. Every story possible."
—Unclaimed Treasures, P. 18
Life is pedestrian for twelve-year-old Willa Pinkerton; as least, that's how she sees it. Her father is a college writing professor, the father of the boy next door (Horace Morris) is a talented artist, and the rest of the gaps fill in naturally with a quirky cast of characters most girls don't grow up influenced by, but these parts of her life are all too familiar for Willa to regard as extraordinary. Her mother is safely through the majority of her current pregnancy without significant health concern, but the anticipation of accepting a new sibling into the world doesn't feel extraordinary to Willa. Babies are born every day, every minute, just as frequently as people cross paths with a special someone and decide they've fallen in love. But the tempests of romantic entanglement feel far more interesting to Willa than the common experience of expecting a baby, though both are born of love. Willa is looking for a reason to throw herself head over heels into the feeling of first love, and she soon finds it in the dashing figure of her newest neighbor, Matthew, an artist. Matthew's son, Horace, meets Willa and her twin brother Nicky first, but it's Matthew who grabs Willa's fancy. His wife is off elsewhere seeking her fortune, a phrase never precisely elaborated on, leaving Willa to indulge her infatuation with Matthew more seriously, but also to observe the absence of a mother and see what it can do to a family when a parent puts doing something "extraordinary" above the needs of their child and spouse. Will this alter Willa's vision of what it means to be more than ordinary?
Willa's heart quickens when Matthew invites her to sit for a few weeks for a portrait that needs finishing, a picture he started to draw of Winnie, his wife, but now needs another model to complete. Willa fantasizes of the languid rapture of true love as written about in the stories that spill from the desk in her father's study, tales of young men and women with stars in their eyes as they satiate their innermost desires in mutual embrace. Her father's college students have such a way with words, Willa thinks. She lingers on what it would be like for Matthew to gaze dreamily into her eyes, telling her she means the world and more to him, and for her to eloquently return his adoration. As the portrait nears completion, Willa longs to confess to Matthew that she sees him as much more than the father of a friend, but is he capable of returning her feelings when his wife is still out there? Willa continues to be frustrated with her inability to draw a clear line between the ordinary and extraordinary in life so she can pursue the latter, but her stint as Matthew's model will clear up some of those questions, and point her in the direction of answers to the rest. Love, kindness, and sacrifice are of nobler purpose than Willa ever understood in her starstruck fantasies. A girl on the periphery of another family's life can have a longterm impact on their ability to move forward after a season of struggle, but only if she learns when to step in and when, hurt as it might, to step aside. It may be Willa's most eccentric neighbor, Old Pepper, who best defines the difference between the norm and the super-norm: "Maybe...the answer is that ordinary and extraordinary are the same thing. Morning light? The smell of grass? Who you are and what you think and how you live?" When one ceases trying to build a perfect life in favor of piecing together a simple, satisfying existence from the broken bits and pieces the world has left unclaimed, it can turn out to be an extraordinary life after all. Unclaimed treasures are apt to be the best kind, dusty jewels that need only a loving buff and polish to restore their natural luster. Then they're no longer unclaimed, and neither is the one who found them. How could Willa have guessed that nothing more than that is necessary to be extraordinary?
"Things are seldom as they seem. You must do better than just look."
—Unclaimed Treasures, P. 43
One of my favorite parts of the book is Willa's mother's explanation of why it wasn't hard for her to give up a potential dancing career after Willa and Nicky were born. That ambition mattered a great deal to their mother before, but once she cradled her baby son and daughter in her arms, everything but her love for them faded into the background. She didn't sacrifice her dancing because she didn't think she could succeed, or because she'd lost interest or didn't believe she was worthy of pursuing an interest that was only about herself. She gave up dancing despite the fact that it was worth excelling at, and she was worth the investment. A sacrifice without value is no sacrifice at all, but relinquishing her professional aspirations to take care of her children cost Willa's mother something dear. There was just never any question in her mind that they were worth letting go of her dancing career, and much, much more. May we all have someone (or two) in our lives for whom we would unblinkingly sacrifice our shot at being extraordinary.
I've read books by Patricia MacLachlan that touched me more than Unclaimed Treasures, but it's a nice story, and I appreciate it. The tone of the narrative is pleasant and gentle, and the characters are warm and wise, even (perhaps especially) the young ones. Unclaimed Treasures isn't likely to ever be as well-known as Sarah, Plain and Tall or All the Places to Love, but it will have its fans. You might become one of them if you give it a read.
September 20, 2021
In questo volume ci sono ben due romanzi brevi scritti da Patricia MacLachlan: "Fatti e finzioni di Minna Pratt" e "Tesori inesatti".
In entrambi abbiamo due protagoniste undicenni, rispettivamente Minna e Willa, che incontrano - in modi e in luoghi diversi - il primo amore.
La storia di Minna affronta soprattutto la sua passione per la musica, in primis la speranza di riuscire a eseguire perfettamente Mozart al violoncello. L'interesse per Lucas, nuovo elemento del suo quartetto d'archi, si intreccia con le riflessioni su cosa significhi vivere in una famiglia caotica piuttosto che organizzata e su cosa permetta di distinguere i fatti dalla finzione, che rappresenta la materia di lavoro della mamma scrittrice di Minna.
Willa invece, nel corso di una calda estate, è intenzionata a trovare il vero amore. Tra alberi di melo, ritratti in soffitta e pappagalli, Willa e il suo gemello Nicholas, con il nuovo amico Horace, capiranno che i sentimenti non si possono programmare e che non c'è tanta differenza tra ordinario e straordinario.
In entrambi abbiamo due protagoniste undicenni, rispettivamente Minna e Willa, che incontrano - in modi e in luoghi diversi - il primo amore.
La storia di Minna affronta soprattutto la sua passione per la musica, in primis la speranza di riuscire a eseguire perfettamente Mozart al violoncello. L'interesse per Lucas, nuovo elemento del suo quartetto d'archi, si intreccia con le riflessioni su cosa significhi vivere in una famiglia caotica piuttosto che organizzata e su cosa permetta di distinguere i fatti dalla finzione, che rappresenta la materia di lavoro della mamma scrittrice di Minna.
Willa invece, nel corso di una calda estate, è intenzionata a trovare il vero amore. Tra alberi di melo, ritratti in soffitta e pappagalli, Willa e il suo gemello Nicholas, con il nuovo amico Horace, capiranno che i sentimenti non si possono programmare e che non c'è tanta differenza tra ordinario e straordinario.
May 4, 2022
So glad to be done with this. It was a weird story. Definitely not one of Patricia MacLachlan’s best.
November 1, 2024
I wonder why I had to request this from pbs; kids don't like it enough to keep it circulating or in print?
---
Now that I've read it, I can guess why. It's different. Beautiful writing, but quiet. Only children who aren't habituated to screens will have a shot at it. And it's just a little too mature, I think, for the age of the characters.
"The grass was startling and cold with dew, and Willa grinned suddenly with the feel of it." Most readers would see Startling and Cold as negatives, but MacLachlan surprises. It's a surprising book in a lot of ways, I guess is the easiest way to talk about it.
But I'm bothered that I didn't get to know the old ladies that are nicknamed the Unclaimed Treasures hardly at all. Nor can I figure out what the nickname means. So, ultimately, only three stars even though I appreciate that it's different/original, and that it's quiet.
---
Now that I've read it, I can guess why. It's different. Beautiful writing, but quiet. Only children who aren't habituated to screens will have a shot at it. And it's just a little too mature, I think, for the age of the characters.
"The grass was startling and cold with dew, and Willa grinned suddenly with the feel of it." Most readers would see Startling and Cold as negatives, but MacLachlan surprises. It's a surprising book in a lot of ways, I guess is the easiest way to talk about it.
But I'm bothered that I didn't get to know the old ladies that are nicknamed the Unclaimed Treasures hardly at all. Nor can I figure out what the nickname means. So, ultimately, only three stars even though I appreciate that it's different/original, and that it's quiet.
April 15, 2009
In the Sarah, Plain and Tall books Sarah has 3 elderly Aunts she calls the Unclaimed Treasures, so when I came across this book I thought it might be about the same characters but this is an entirely separate story with different characters and set in a more modern time period although it does feature 3 elderly aunts called the Unclaimed Treasures. This is a short, simple story about a 12 year-old girl named Willa who dreams of finding true love and believes she’s found it when she meets the father of the boy next door. Throughout the course of the story Willa learns about all different kinds of love. Overall a nice story but not as good as the Sarah, Plain and Tall books. I especially liked the relationship between Willa and her twin brother Nicholas.
April 17, 2022
Of the 5 books I've read by MacLachlan, this one is my least favorite. I do NOT like this cover, which may have affected my rating. Why? Because that's NOT the way the kids look ... the girl definitely doesn't look like she's 12 years old.
Then there's this passage on p 4 (second page of the book):
Willa loved her mother, though she did not understand her. Willa loved her father, too. He was the one who came up at night and nuzzled in Willa's neck and sang songs she knew he made up.
In my mind, that's creepy and a red-flag ... but maybe that's only because it's now 2021 and this was written in the early 1980s. Then, too, there's that bit about kissing bedposts.
As for the story, I finished it in one sitting; it did hold my attention.
Then there's this passage on p 4 (second page of the book):
Willa loved her mother, though she did not understand her. Willa loved her father, too. He was the one who came up at night and nuzzled in Willa's neck and sang songs she knew he made up.
In my mind, that's creepy and a red-flag ... but maybe that's only because it's now 2021 and this was written in the early 1980s. Then, too, there's that bit about kissing bedposts.
As for the story, I finished it in one sitting; it did hold my attention.
June 6, 2018
Willa and Nicholas (twins!) move and meet their neighbors, who are an interesting bunch. Maiden aunts and cats on the countertop. Flutterings and funerals. Attic studios and expectant mothers. An untrustworthy tree and a necessary key. Beautiful Bella and finding a true love.
I was initially wary. I mean, cats in the coffin, twelve-year-olds drinking wine, and kissing practice with a bedpost ...? But MacLachlan reeled me in, and all the odd and erratic piece of her story gently knit themselves together, revealing a heart-tugging wisdom that is both ordinary and extraordinary. Joyous!
I was initially wary. I mean, cats in the coffin, twelve-year-olds drinking wine, and kissing practice with a bedpost ...? But MacLachlan reeled me in, and all the odd and erratic piece of her story gently knit themselves together, revealing a heart-tugging wisdom that is both ordinary and extraordinary. Joyous!
February 25, 2020
Un libro bellissimo e pieno di spunti di riflessione in cui le protagoniste si pongono tanti quesiti importanti e imparano a trovare alcune risposte, a crescere e ad affrontare la vita giorno dopo giorno, comprendendo che spesso tra ordinario e straordinario non c'è un limite ben definito.
December 3, 2019
The book begins with the ending and so I had to keep reading because everything I could imagine happening to bring about the end was devastating. I was so glad it ended as it did, as it should and was nothing at all that I imagined.
February 21, 2020
I'm a sucker for a Newberry winner. And though this one seems to start out on an archaic foot (young female protagonist wishing for nothing more than to find her true love ca. 1984), it continues on to reveal more progressiveness than meets the eye.
March 29, 2025
Uno stile molto originale per un romanzo originale. Due racconti separati, accostati dal solo nodo temporale della crescita e dell’impazienza di raggiungere ciò che si cerca.
July 27, 2015
Twelve year old Willa wants to something extraordinary because to her, she lives a very ordinary life. The summer she meets Horace she and her twin brother Nicholas set out to find what extraordinary really is. To Willa, finding true love is extraordinary.
This is one of those books I remember reading in the summer. And while I wasn't interested in finding true love when I was twelve, I did like the storyline. There's just enough simplicity to make you think on a higher level about what extraordinary really means.
This is one of those books I remember reading in the summer. And while I wasn't interested in finding true love when I was twelve, I did like the storyline. There's just enough simplicity to make you think on a higher level about what extraordinary really means.
October 29, 2012
This book has a powerful message about the extraordinariness of ordinary life. I really enjoyed it. I'm not thrilled about the 12-year-olds kissing. Still, it is a wonderful story about a summer than changes Willa's life and how she grows up. Beautifully written. The part I found most touching is when she offers to watch her new sister so her mother can dance again. Awesome.
October 6, 2010
When I was twelve I too looked everywhere for my true love. Then I turned 14 and decided there probably wasn't any such thing. If only I could figure out what happened in between to make me so jaded. I'm sure there's a short story in there somewhere.
Read
April 1, 2008I don't actually remember reading this, but I know I did! Probably more than once because the name sounds *really* familiar.
March 26, 2012
This book was awesome!! E. P
November 21, 2013
Decently well-plotted slice-of-life story, again with the MacLachlan's signature extraordinary-in-the-ordinariness-of-life touch. Not a fan of the (minor) tween romance.
March 24, 2016
"We are all, let us hope, unclaimed treasures."
August 6, 2023
I really enjoy Patricia MacLachlan's books, but her characters are way too similar. This book is a lot like Cassie Binegar, and both of them are a lot like the Sarah Plain and Tall series.
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