Return to Sender

by Lauren Draper

Overview

This layered and compelling cozy mystery is all about found family, first love, and one town’s tragedies, perfect for fans of Melina Marchetta, Kristin Dwyer, and Nina LaCour.

Brodie McKellon didn’t leave town in handcuffs; not exactly. But all the same, in only one night, she lost her best friends and her home. And that same night, the town of Warwick lost the Adder Stone, a supposedly magical ring of local legend.

The events, Brodie maintains, were not related.

Four years later, Brodie’s returned to Warwick to identify the real thief and get back everything she lost. She can clear her name, win back her friends Elliott and Levi, and save Gran’s house from the bank.

But as Brodie starts investigating, she gets pulled into a different mystery, of three friends and their “dead letters”—mail that’s been lost over the years. And soon she finds that there are times when the things you find aren’t the things you even knew you had lost. A house becomes a home. Some friends become family. And other friends, well, they might become something more. As long as Brodie can be brave enough to find herself. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063340381
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/13/2024
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	13 Years

About the Author

Lauren Draper is the author of The Museum of Broken Things, which was shortlisted for the 2020 Text Prize. Her work has also been longlisted in the 2019 Richell Prize and has appeared in various nonfiction publications. She grew up in Western Australia, mostly on land but often in water. She now lives in Melbourne with one struggling coffee machine, a moderately behaved golden retriever, and her partner.

Editorial Reviews

06/03/2024

After three miserable years attending boarding school, 17-year-old Brodie McKellon is back in her small town of Warwick, where she’s known as the McKellon Felon for being a “wild child with a bad rep.” She’s thrilled to reunite with her beloved grandmother and childhood neighbor Elliot; she’s less thrilled to see Levi, her infuriatingly handsome former friend and current enemy. Now that she’s returned, she can focus on figuring out who stole the supposedly magical Adder Stone from the local museum and clear her name of the crime that led to her and Levi’s falling out. She’s also eager to investigate the identities of the three teenagers who lived in the town 20 years ago whose letters she acquired from her family’s Mail Redistribution Center. As Brodie learns more about Warwick and the people who inhabit it—and as secrets past and present intersect—she must navigate conflicting feelings about Levi. A lack of geographic and cultural specificity regarding Warwick and the surrounding locale somewhat dampen the emotional impact brought about by Brodie’s inquiry into its history, making for a meandering tale by Australian author Draper (Museum of Broken Things). Main characters read as white. Ages 13–up. Agent: Annabel Barker, Annabel Barker Agency. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"The story unfolds slowly, allowing space for Levi and Brodie’s relationship to sweetly bloom, with pranks and sarcastic banter thrown into the mix . . . Funny and vulnerable characters populate this quirky town. Thoughtfully weaves a mystery into a poignant tale about a young woman finding home." — Kirkus Reviews

"Brodie’s narration is whip-smart, but her dry wit is tempered by the excerpts of the letters, which have a poignant sense of longing. The dynamics between Brodie, Eli, and Levi are authentically messy, with realistic worries about what their pasts mean for their future. The romance . . . is delightfully sweet, bringing the story to a wholesome end." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

From the Publisher

08/01/2024

Gr 8 Up—Three years have passed since Brodie McKellon was accused of stealing the Adder Stone, a legendary town relic, and sent away to boarding school. Dubbed the "McKellon Felon" and "Red" (for being caught red-handed) more times than she can count, Brodie returns home to the town of Warwick for senior year. Since Mum died a few years back, and Dad works as a roadie, she lives with her beloved and quirky grandmother. Nan runs the town's Dead Letter Office, where boxes of undeliverable mail await their intended recipients. While navigating through rough waters of absent parents, closely held secrets, and young love, Brodie and friends Elliot and Levi remain determined to find the still-missing Adder Stone and solve the mystery of the dead letters in box 130, the only box that has never been claimed. The story paints a genuine picture of small-town teen life. Draper incorporates elements of cozy mystery into the novel, including predictability of plot. Readers will find the central characters and the adults in their lives relatable but may question the relevancy of mentioned trends in pop culture. VERDICT A sweet, enjoyable read recommended for young adult collections.—Alicia Rogers

School Library Journal

2024-05-17
An Australian teen returns home to an unexpected welcome—and a still-perplexing mystery she thought she’d left behind.

Brodie arrives back at her loving grandmother’s character-filled house—which is also the town of Warwick’s dead letter office—after being expelled from her cold, unwelcoming boarding school. Because her reputation for mischief led townspeople to believe she’d stolen the Adder Stone, a powerful, magical artifact famous in town lore, just before she was sent away, Brodie expects a chilly reception from everyone, including her friend Levi, whose parents are Warwick’s mayor and a police detective. Naturally, Nan is delighted to see her, and Brodie quickly falls back in with close friend Elliot. The resulting mystery involves the Adder Stone, old dead letters she’s long puzzled over, and the secrets of many of Warwick’s adults. The story unfolds slowly, allowing space for Levi and Brodie’s relationship to sweetly bloom, with pranks and sarcastic banter thrown into the mix. While the reveal of the letter mystery may not come entirely as a surprise to readers, they’ll find the time with the funny and vulnerable characters who populate this quirky town to be well spent. The central characters present white.

Thoughtfully weaves a mystery into a poignant tale about a young woman finding home. (Fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews