Born out of grief and raised in the shadow of her brother’s death, Barbara Van Laar has never had a great relationship with her parents. Despite having the best of everything - household staff catering to her every whim and an unlimited amount of potential friends who populate the wilderness camp on her family’s property every summer - Barbara remains an outcast in her own home. Her mother is distraught that she’s not the perfect child her brother had been, and her father has no use for her since she is a girl and cannot carry on the family name. Despite this, Barbara has tried to carve her own path and, though she’s never attended her family’s camp, she has befriended the camp’s no-nonsense director, Tessie Jo.
Then, the summer she turns 13, Barbara suddenly decides she wants to go to Camp Emerson. She doesn’t explain why, but her parents are overjoyed, nonetheless, if for no other reason than they won’t have to worry about her for a couple of months. However, as the opulence of her parents’ annual week-long end-of-summer party begins to fade, Barbara goes missing, seemingly having been taken from her cabin in the middle of the night. As an investigation is launched, the narrative begins to switch back and forth between 1961, when her brother, Bear Van Laar, disappeared under similarly mysterious circumstances, and 1975, following the search for Barbara. How can this have happened twice to the same family? And how can a family who seems to have it all, lose it all so quickly?
OPTION 1: INTO THE WOODS
The woods of the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York provide a beautiful, and sometimes chilling, backdrop for the novel, counteracting the wealth and grandeur of the Van Laar estate, which overlooks the woods. To go along with this setting, create a page that focuses on outdoor, woodsy activities. Think hiking, camping, bird-watching, even canoeing on a lake. Simply BEING outdoors is not enough for this one. The focus must be on an activity that takes place in, or is related to, the woods. (In a related story, if you happen to have seen the musical Into the Woods and you do a page about it, I’ll let it slide! )
OPTION 2: SIBLING RIVALRY?
Relationships, particularly those between siblings and those between parents and children, drive this novel. So for Option 2, make a page that focuses on one of those relationships. It can be a relationship of which you are a part, or one of which you are merely an observer, such as the sibling relationship between your children or a special bond between your spouse and his mother, but it should only be EITHER siblings OR parent/child.
The Fine Print:
1. HAVE FUN MAKING YOUR PROJECT!
2. Entries open to new projects - paper, digital, & card making.
3. May be combined with one other challenge that allows it.
4. Due September 30th, at 11:59 PM.
5. One lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive a $5 ACOT gift card from me!
6. Up to 3 entries permitted per month.
7. If there are more than 15 unique entries (not including bonuses) during the month, a second name will be drawn and that person will get an automatic entry for the following month.
Participating Cherries:
