far far away

I really loved this book by Tom McNeal. It was a finalist for the National Book Award and deservedly so IMHO. In the town of Never Better, somewhere in a contemporary mid-western part of the country, people get excited when the green smoke from the bakery chimney indicates that Prince Cakes are going to be made that day. The first bite is rumored to be so magical, that you will fall in love with the first person you see. Or at least that's the story. And it is the story that Jeremy Johnson Johnson is given to explain why his mom ran away with another man when Jeremy was a youngster, leaving him with a grandfather who opened the Two Book Bookstore to sell his 2-volume autobiography, and his father who subsequently takes to his bed. When grandfather dies, Jeremy is bereft in so many ways but tries to keep things going without his father's contributions, although now the bank is threatening to foreclose on the shop and their living quarters. However,  Jeremy has received support from an unlikely source in recent years--the ghost of Jakob Grimm. Jakob has been caught in an in-between world, unable to pass on, and Jeremy is the first person he has encountered who can hear him. Jeremy is now 15 and a feisty red-haired girl at school, Ginger, has taken an interest in the reclusive boy. At first, the pranks she invites Jeremy to join in seem to bring a world of trouble down on the already unfortunate boy, but then she has an idea for Jeremy to get onto a quiz show--supposedly as an expert in all things related to the brothers Grimm-- and win the money to pay off the bank. When this fails, through no fault of Jakob's, the situation seems even more desperate. The baker, a victim of Ginger's prank for which Jeremy took the blame, seems to have take a benevolent interest in Ginger and Jeremy and offers to pay them for doing work. Then his interest turns out not to be so generous after all, and it is up to the ghost of Jakob to save them from a terrible death if he can.
There are richly developed characters, a wonderful sense of place and an intriguing plot line to recommend this book. Suitable for all ages.