Everyone Was Very Nice during the Great Depression - A Fairy Tale

Surrounded by hunger, sickness, death, and despair, it appears that during the Great Depression pretty much everyone could still spare a dime for a needy buddy. Or at least that's the sunny subtext of this odd, but oddly engaging book.

Aaron's Dad happens to be in a jewelry store when it's robbed. He ends up jailed as a material witness. The only way Aaron can get Dad out is to solve the crime so Dad isn't needed as a witness anymore. Can that even happen? Does that even make sense? I don't know, but it's the incident and premise that sets thirteen, (almost), year old Aaron and his downtrodden pals detectivating. And Aaron and his pals are just engaging enough and dryly deadpan and unironically upbeat enough to pull it off.

Everyone is helpful and nice. Everybody is everybody else's pal. All of the parts of an exceptionally complex criminal conspiracy reveal themselves in due time and in clear order. Total strangers drop everything and set aside their own problems to lend a hand.

But this isn't a real mystery book, or an historically accurate drama, or even much of a slice of life kitchen sink tale. It is a fairy tale about a spunky feisty kid and how an ideal community rallies around even under great stress. It's cheery and sunny and upbeat. It has some funny lines, some clever banter, a decent helping of street wisdom, and a street-wise Tom Sawyerish hero. It has a happy ending that practically has bluebirds tweeting over the closing credits.

I guess you could read this in either of two ways. On one hand you could go with the upbeat and cheery vibe and treat it like a light weight old fashioned boys own lark. On the other hand you could read it as a dark send up and bitter mockery, reverse mirror style, of everything that really went on during the Great Depression. (I don't think most pawn brokers came across like generous Santa Clauses.) While I doubt the author intended the latter, the book is written so that you could go either way without a problem, which is probably why I thought it was so interesting.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

I enjoyed reading about Aaron and his adventures trying to clear his father’s name. He was resourceful and the plot moved quickly. This is a great book to read when you don’t want to read about heavy things. Aaron is very optimistic and though his life is far from ideal he looks on the bright side of everything and see the good in everyone. Sometimes to the point that his words didn’t always seem to be coming from someone twelve years old but much older.

This was an absolutely delightful book! I wasn't sure what to expect when I began reading about Aaron Broom, but I soon became enchanted with this young man. Aaron is a unique boy and his adventures are nothing short of amazing. As you tirn the pages, you will begin a trip through the life of Aaron Broom over several days.

From his ingenuous ways of getting into...and out...of trouble will have you chuckling while shaking your head in awe. Aaron makes friends along the way and finds ways to discover the truth behind a crime that touches him personally. And Aaron takes his friends and acquaintances along with him on his adventures.

From Aaron's amazing vocabulary, his good heartedness, his ability to grasp situations and truths at a level more mature than his age, and his high moral character will encourage you and make you wish that Aaron Broom was your brother or son. He is a hero in every sense of the word.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone! This is one I will remember fondly for years to come.

Readers of mystery and historical fiction will enjoy the happenings in “The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom.” The novel provides a glimpse of life during the Great Depression in Saint Louis, Aaron’s optimism and determination shine bright and will leave readers with hope for a brighter tomorrow.

A.E. Hotchner is known for so many things - his friendship and business partnership with Paul Newman, his biographies of famous people, his wartime and peace time adventures, his long list of published books, and this list goes on and on. "The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Bloom" is the latest on his list of literary achievements. Thanks to Hotchner's vivid imagination and his own life story, he gives us the story of Aaron, a kid determined to succeed during the Depression. He's a boy whose mom is in an sanatorium, his dad is in and out of jail, and he's just witnessed a fatal shooting and robbery at a jewelry store. Determined to clear his dad's name, he sets out to find the true killer. Helping him are an orphaned paperboy, an aspiring teen-age journalist and a cast of slightly off-kilter adults and kids. Thanks to Hotchner's skilled storytelling, readers are drawn into Aaron's lively story, cheering for his success as he overcomes bad luck and hard times. Cheers to Aaron, and let's hope we read more about him as he wriggles his way through life.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Set during the depression, Aaron's father is accused of a crime he didn't commit. His mother is hospitalized, so Aaron is on his end to solve the case for the police so that his father can come home.

I really enjoyed the storyline and young Aaron.

THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF AARON BROOM by A. E. Hotchner is a cute little book which is almost a combination of a Hardy Boys type mystery with the courage and self-reliance shown in Five Little Peppers. Aaron Broom is a destitute twelve-year-old boy living in Depression-era St. Louis when his father is apprehended for being a material witness at a jewelry store robbery. Aaron has 47 cents and no place to stay so he sets out to "detectify" in order to get his father released. He has one narrow escape (or "happening" as chapters are labeled) after another and quite a bit of good luck, especially in terms of the newsboy, landlord and lawyer who step up to help him. It truly takes a village for Aaron to handle his many responsibilities (finding food, visiting his mother at a sanitarium, hiding the family car so it is not repossessed) and the lines between right and wrong are often blurry. He persists and learns "not to make up my mind about people and things I haven't seen and heard with my own two eyes and ears." Hotchner does a very credible job of conveying the era in this work of historical fiction and THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF AARON BROOM is an enjoyable and entertaining read. However, I am not sure that students today would be able to relate well to Aaron's combination of naivety and a complete freedom to roam a large urban center alone. Perhaps this gentle title and its subtle social commentary would appeal more to older adults?

I have tried to read this book several times but it's just not for me. After reading about 1/3 of the book I really think that this should be classified as a young adult book. I think it would be great for young people to read about this time period, the depression, etc. It's just not what I was hoping for.

Since I did not finish the book I will not publish to public media as that would be unfair to the author.

Thanks for the opportunity to review this book.

The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom, is a wonderful story of a 12 year old boy growing up during the depression years in St Louis. The book is written by A.E. Hotchner, who at the age of 100 has written this adventure story based on his youth. Hotchner is the noted biographer of Hemingway, Doris Day and he is the founder, with Paul Newman, of Newman's Own. This fun mystery novel is a whodunit to find out who the jewel thieves are that have implicated his father in their heist. With his father in jail, his mother in a sanitarium with tuberculosis, he finds ways to be very resourceful to try and stay one step ahead of child welfare services and uncover the real culprits in the robbery. Despite seeing the real killer flee the scene, Aaron can't do much to help in the moment. Undaunted, he enlists an unlikely band of friends and helpful adults to clear his father's name, including a world-weary paperboy, an aspiring teen journalist, a kindly lawyer, and a neighborhood friend with a penchant for baking. And as they dig into the details of the case, these unconventional detectives reveal a cover-up that goes much deeper than a jewelry-store heist gone sour.

3.5 stars

A wonderful heart warming story about a 12 year old boy, Aaron, during the Depression. He and his family have been having a hard time. His mother is ill and in a sanitarium and he and his father are living a very rough life. They keep an eye on the car so it's not repossessed and move apartments every few months taking advantage of free rent offers and then sneaking out when the offer expires.

His father gets a job selling watches Bulova watches and makes a call on a jewelry store while Aaron sits in the car so it can't be repossessed. A man follows hid Dad in the store and there is a sound of shots ringing out. A man runs out and his father is arrested for robbery and murder.

The story revolves around Aaron trying to get his dad out of jail, finding the real killer and mostly surviving. He can't get back into his apartment as the police have locked it up. He ends up sleeping in a hammock in a park and scrounging for food. He meets some wonderful people who are genuinely kind to him. It also shows that often people who have the least are the most generous.

I would say this is a YA book and it would be great to give them a little history on the Depression and how bad it really was. I still have my parents stories about the time ringing in my ears but my grandkids don't have that so this would be a wonderful way to learn something. It's also a great reminder to be kind to people me meet. It was really an uplifting story that I enjoyed.

Thanks to Net Galley and Doubleday for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Received an advanced copy in exchange for a fair review.

The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom is a perfectly charming period YA mystery with a lovable protagonist. The titular adventures begin immediately as Aaron sees his father caught up in a jewelry store robbery in Depression-era St. Louis. He is held as a material witness and Aaron spends the novel dodging juvenile services and investigating the robbery gone wrong to find out who shot a clerk.

There are times when the logical leaps Aaron is able to make seem to be a stretch for a 12-year-old... but the mystery unfolds compellingly and as Aaron takes you around St. Louis and explains how he survives in the Depression, you stop nit-picking as much.

Hotchner has created a fun character I could see coming back to in a future novel as he solves more crimes and revisits the characters introduced here.

*3.5 stars rounded up. I would rank this heart-warming story as YA, suitable for ages twelve and up. Set in St Louis, Missouri during the Great Depression (probably 1933--the year when Prohibition was overturned by FDR), the story is told in first-person narrative by 12-year-old Aaron Broom. He is in a very difficult situation: his mother is in a sanitarium for treatment of consumption and now his father has been arrested and is being held in jail as a material witness in connection with a jewelry store heist where a clerk was killed. To make matters worse, Aaron has been locked out of their apartment and is being sought by a mean lady from Family Services.

What can a poor kid do to prove his father innocent? Start asking questions,'detectifying' in Aaron's own words, and figure out who was the killer. Aaron is truly a good kid, smart, resourceful, thoughtful and brave. If anyone can figure this out, he can.

Each chapter is labelled a 'Happening' in Aaron's amazing adventures. This is a quick, fun read with an interesting setting and likable characters. Whenever there's a protagonist of about this age, there's always that feeling that they are smart but not experienced enough to know how the world really works.

I received an arc of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley for my honest review. Many thanks!

This was a wonderful read. Set during the depression, <b>The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom</b> follows a young boy whose family has been hit hard. His mother is in a sanitarium suffering from consumption and his father has been held over in jail as a material witness to murder. With his apartment shuttered by the authorities and child services at his heels, the young Aaron Broom sets out to "detectify" the identity of the killer and free his father.
A precocious boy, he refers to the heroes of his favorite mystery books (Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple and Inspector Poirot) to solve the mystery. Aaron Broom is a delightful character -- thoughtful, selfless, dependable, honest to the core, a true friend -- he is what we wish all of of our children to be.

Somehow I had never heard of A. E. Hotchner before this book. Now several more of his books are on my to be read list. Aaron Broom is a character you are rooting for from page 1. Aaron is almost 13 and has to find a way to rescue his father who was falsely arrested. The characters he meets along the way help mold him and help him on his quest. From a young crush to a newspaper boy to a lawyer with a heart you know Aaron will have help when the going gets tougher. The blurb “A heartwarming amateur detective story set in Depression-Era St. Louis from beloved author A.E. Hotchner” fits quite well.
This could definitely fall under the YA group and does a good job of showing how the Depression wrecked havoc on so many lives. I appreciated seeing it through the eyes of an almost 13 year old. One of those books that leaves you wishing for more pages or maybe even a sequel!!
“Detectifying” might be my new favorite word. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!

How could you not enjoy meeting and rooting for Aaron Broom and his cast of friends. A great read that brings in historical aspects of the depression. As a child of depression parents I can relate to this story by recollecting the many stories my parents shared with me during this time period.

A fun story! A good read. Entertaining in a good way.

I enjoyed this Depression-Era story, even though it was at times quite sad. It tells the story of Aaron, who has to deal with some rather difficult circumstances. He is a likable character and the story moves quickly, with an engaging plot and a well drawn out setting that really gave me the sense of that time period.

Aaron Broom is trying to survive the Depression when his father is arrested for being involved in a murder and jewelry store robbery. Aaron uses all his smarts and optimism to free his father, along with the help of old friends and new. A charming, heartwarming story that will melt your heart.

Charming tale and very well written. Great characters.

When I read the blurb for The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom, in my mind, I pictured The Sandlot if you just replaced baseball with a crime-solving caper. I wasn’t too far off the mark. The book certainly has an entertaining cast of characters from the wonderful Vernon who makes gourmet meals on a “beat-up smoky stove” to Augie, a newspaper selling kid who befriends Aaron and goes above and beyond in helping him solve the mystery of what really happened inside the jewelry store.

There’s an innocence to Aaron and to many of the characters that is a throwback to long-gone simpler times. Despite The Depression and the terrible situation that Aaron’s father and mother are in, Aaron never loses his spirit, his faith, or his soul. He finds complete strangers along the way who are willing to help him without any selfishness or expectation of getting something in return. The book has a beautiful nostalgia for a way a life and a sense of community that have been lost in modern times.

While adults will appreciate the way Hotchner captures the era of The Great Depression, I think it is teenagers who will really enjoy this crime solving caper.