Ruby Carson is an extremely endearing narrator, and this is the kind of book I would have loved as a child. Going from the summary, however, I am a bit disappointed in (what I perceived as) the lack of the promised "long-simmering secrets." Although set in the the 1960's, the story lacks the anachronistic prose of books actually written in that era, while still remaining emblematic of a past era, in small details like Ruby's clothes, and the manner in which Mr. Cole met his late wife, Rita.