What Will Happen To Harmony Point?

Their town is falling to pieces. Their baseball uniforms don't match; the sign to their town has been vandalized and now says Armpit instead of Harmony Point. To make matters worse it look like the big city is moving in, and their small town lives are being taken over. When the beloved post mistress retires, everyone is curious about who will take her place. The kids can’t believe it when the new postmaster also becomes their new baseball coach. Their team has been on a losing streak for forever. No one can even remember when they didn’t get creamed in a game. But, the new coach has them working together and uses drills to help improve their skills. It looks like they might have a chance at scoring some runs this season, until they find out the post office isn’t managing enough mail and it may have to close. The kids can’t lose their new coach and decide to start a mail brigade. They try to find clever ways to get mail running through their town. When they find out that writing to government officials doesn’t require stamps, they each decide to write to different causes that they are interested in to ask for help improving their town and generating mail. Will things finally turn around? Will the mail brigade really work? Is it possible for kids to make a difference in a community? Will the post office close and the new postmaster move to the big city? You will have to read this story to find out what happens in Harmony Point.

When I started reading Saving Armpit by Natalie Hyde I thought it was going to be about a camp. But, it turned out to be a book about a community coming together to make a change. The difference was that most of the community had no idea that change was taking place. I especially liked that it was the kids who banded together to write letters to bring about change. Working towards a cause can have consequences you didn’t even see! Fans of baseball will definitely enjoy this book and the changes that the team goes through. For those that don't like baseball- if you like to see people working together and making the world a better place, this is a book that you will really get into. I liked seeing the surprising things that happened once the kids started writing letters, and I also enjoyed reading the letters sprinkled throughout the book. This story will be enjoyed by kids in third grade and up. It gave me some ideas of letters I could write to make a difference in my community. Maybe I will be able to make some positive changes happen too!

Has anyone else read Saving Armpit? Or have you read another book by Natalie Hyde?  If so what did you think of it? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Happy reading!

~L