Author Pete Pace here. Of course, I’d love you to review The Secret in Locker 436 on Amazon and/or Goodreads (both is even better!).
The Key Characters
Ruthie: Age 15, high school sophomore. From Rockville, Maryland. Lives with her Aunt Irene because her parents disappeared when she was two years old.
Ali: Age 16, high school junior. From Chicago. Finds being good at everything a burden.
Cho: Age 14. Not in school. From Chinatown in San Francisco. Prefers dead people.
Bogart: Age 16. Not in school. Lives in Adamsville, Arizona. Works at Camp Florence, a POW camp ten miles from his home. Minnie’s younger brother. He’s a handyman. And … a Limbon.
Minnie: Age 24, registered nurse. Bogart’s sister, she works the wards in the hospital at Camp Florence. Also a closet surgeon & undercover pharmacist.
Otto: Age 29, baker. Former WW2 paratrooper from Germany. A POW at Camp Florence.
Six of my favorite quotes from the book
Ruthie: “I’m on cloud eight!” [Chapter 148: None Shall Sleep]
Ali: “Looking like I do. It’s no picnic.” [Chapter 23: Halfsies]
Cho: “It is neveroclock here. So I will be so young, still your son. And I will know more. I will see you soon if I am lucky enough. And ever I hold you in my heart.” [Chapter 126: Ever]
Bogart: “Well, if everybody wins, who loses? The best stories aren’t about victory. I like the ones about struggle.” [Chapter 151: Mixer]
Minnie: “Have you had a broken heart? Broken hearts? Ever miss a paycheck—you or your whole family? Ever have to carry your dad on your back? Your brother? Ever go away to school, first trip on a train, sleep on the floor of a kids’ room for two years, cut on the dead and push drugs on the living?” [Chapter 138: Titans]
Otto: “Es ist immer noch dampf im wasserkocher.” (“There’s still steam in the kettle.”) [Chapter 125: Kettle]
Wait, Can People Fit in a Locker? Yes.
