ISBN 0-944851-28-2  September 2007
YOUNG ADULT FICTION — Mystery   Retail $9.95
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In Ms. Ulrich's second teen novel, in her young adult Annette Vetter adventures, we once again see a picture of rural daily life, where milking cows and collecting eggs are a daily routine. Annette's best friend, Penny, lives down the road from Annette and her mother's farm, in Ravensville, Wisconsin.

Of course, there's plenty of time for school activities and, especially, boys, yet Annette has a special penchant for sniffing up a good mystery.

A new girl, Chris Hilgert, moves to an apartment in town. She lives with her invalid mother and her sister, who is engaged to Randy. Randy becomes a curious threat, if not a very suspicious character spun around a new town scoundrel, peeping Tom and possible thief of Chris's mother's alimony checks.

Annette jumps right in to help her new friend find out more about the missing checks, and on to a new and suspense-filled mystery seemingly wound in the natural web of interest and crushes between girls and boys.

Annette shares an art Class with Chris, and you may be wondering if the title, The Secret Of The Green Paint, might be a component in their friendship and the solving of the mystery?

Ms. Ulrich has an uncanny ability to speak to the young adult mind as if she where back in time herself. She composes rich characters and their various, if not sometimes "aromatic" surroundings. All combine to make it a great read for any age!

Keep The Secret Of The Green Paint on your gift giving and reading list for the holidays!
 

About the Series:

There are many people who contributed to the culmination of the final version of The Mystery at Hickory Hill, the first of the Annette Vetter mystery series. My younger siblings, Paul, Laurie and Alice, were probably the first ones to listen to the story when I wrote the original manuscript at age 15. I used to read my original stories out loud to my younger brother and sisters. They were my first audience, and their attentiveness and interest motivated me to pursue my writing as the book went into different revisions over the years.

My teen-age friends were an inspiration to me, and their personalities are reflected in the characters of the series. Annette, of course, is the girl I always wanted to be — bold, rational, and grounded — but mostly a girl who had the privilege of growing up in the country.

The second book of the series takes place in Wisconsin, Annette’s and my native state, even though the first novel was situated in Colorado. At one time, I wanted to “modernize” Annette by making her more contemporary, but I decided the ’60s time period was important in many respects, and it gives the reader a flavorful serving of that era. So much was different back then, yet so much has remained the same.

With the start of the school year comes new faces (kids and teachers), new classes, the end of summer, and the first football game. Will Annette ever get over how Mr. Hendrickson, the new art teacher, humiliated her in class? And does she have a chance with Pete Randt, who's really kind of cute? What's the mystery in her new friend Chris's family? Annette hosts a slumber party in which five girls are terrified. Was it a neighborhood prowler or... a murderer?

— Ann Carol Ulrich (Ann Ulrich Miller)

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