Review - The Last Great Halloween Review

The Last Great Halloween
a Trudy McFarlan Novel
by Rootie Simms
Publisher: Wilder Things Publishing
Pub. Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1512287394
Pages: 186
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

While I was setting up the schedule for the Halloween Madness event, I received a press release about the new young adult book - The Last Great Halloween: a Trudy McFarlan Novel by Rootie Simms. After reading the synopsis, I knew I had to read the novel.

Set in 1960, The Last Great Halloween centers on Trudy McFarlan, a preteen who got to skip the six-grade along with her best friend Paige and jump right into Junior High (7th Grade). Her favorite holiday is Halloween. Trudy and Paige have been planning the greatest Halloween party since forever, but they've never gotten around to actually having it.

After Trudy's mother told her that she was too old to go trick-or-treating and if she wanted a costume, she would have to make it herself, the unthinkable finally happens - the Halloween party becomes a reality.

Paige's mother is letting them have a Halloween party. Trudy already has the perfect costume - a bat, but she needs to find all the materials to make it first. If she doesn't find what she wants in dusty attics, then she's going to have to buy it herself, which is difficult when she doesn't have an allowance to spend. Plus, the ten dollars her mother gave her is for party supplies.

Trudy's plans for a last great Halloween becomes in jeopardy when she has a falling out with her Paige, resulting in a separate party.

Halloween brings out the inner child in all of us. While reading The Last Great Halloween, I kept remembering my trick-or-treating years, which I left behind me when I was around the same age as Trudy McFarlan. As for Halloween parties, besides for the annual class party during my elementary years, I only attended one party when I was a kid and it wasn't that great because I had a bad cold at the time. I believe I went as a pirate.

At under 200 pages, The Last Great Halloween is a really quick read. The author did a marvelous job creating a likeable main character and crafting a fun plot that centers around the love for Halloween. Overall, The Last Great Halloween is a cute book that both kids and adults will enjoy reading. It'll definitely get you in the mood for All Hallows' Eve.

*Disclaimer - I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.


About the Author:

Rootie began her writing career when she was ten years old with her first novel: Naughty Notes. The book had lurid scenes of little girls doing the can-can and flashing their white cotton underpants at little boys who yelled, "Woo! Woo!" She was rewarded for this unsettling exposé of the fourth grade with (what would soon become) a permanent chair in the principal's office.

Her next honorarium came in high school when she rewrote the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In her version, Goldie's food theft was rationalized by her fondness for marijuana. She was rewarded for this insight into Goldie's baffling character trait with a three-day suspension so she could, "Think about what you did!"

As an adult, she's the author of the Truly Julie private eye series, starting with Wilder In The Everglades. She's also the author of the mid-century American comedy fictions, My Childhood Christmas, and The Last Great Halloween, with the next holiday novel to be released in 2016.

She also wrote the original screenplay for the movie, My Fair Lidy (not a lady!) which was produced in 2012 by Sand Woman productions. The movie script was inspired by her years as a stand up comedienne playing Florida gay bars as the first Female-Since-Birth Drag Queen.

In addition to the novels and movie script, Rootie is the author of 6 plays including the popular; Christmas Matzo at the Doublewide Diner, Shameless Women, and It's All in Your Mind. All of the plays were well received by the dozen or so people who actually came to see them.