The movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby I closed my eyes to the dusty countryside and imagined the sign Irsquod seen only in Gideonrsquos stories ManifestmdashA Town with a rich past and a bright futureAbilene Tucker feels abandoned Her father has put her on a train sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest Kansas aiming to learn about the boy her father once wasHaving heard stories about Manifest Abilene is disappointed to find that itrsquos just a dried-up worn-out old town But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends Lettie and Ruthanne on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt even though they are warned to ldquoLeave Well Enough AlonerdquoAbilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie a diviner who only tells stories from the past It seems that Manifestrsquos history is full of colorful and shadowy charactersmdashand long-held secrets The more Abilene hears the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history And as Manifestrsquos secrets are laid bare one by one Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the townPowerful in its simplicity and rich in historical detail Clare Vanderpoolrsquos debut is a gripping story of loss and redemptionCHARACTERSManifest townspeople of Shady Howard saloon owner and bootlegger Jinx con artist extraordinaire Ned Gillen Manifest High School track star Hattie Mae Harper up-and-coming journalist for the Manifest Herald The Hungarian Woman owner and operator of Miss Sadiersquos Divining Parlor Sister Redempta nun not a universal Ivan DeVore postmaster Velma T Harkrader chemistry teacher and maker of home remedies Mr Underhill undertaker Hadley Gillen Nedrsquos father and owner of the hardware store Eudora Larkin president of the Daughters of the American Revolution Manifest chapter Pearl Ann Larkin daughter of Mrs Larkin and Nedrsquos girl Arthur Devlin mine owner Lester Burton pit boss Finn Jinxrsquos uncle Additional townspeople and their countries of origin Donal MacGregor Scotland Callisto Matenopoulos Greece Casimir and Etta and little Eva Cybulskis Poland Olaf and Greta Akkerson Norway Mama Santoni Italy Hermann Keufer Germany Nikolai Yezierska Russia Manifest townspeople of Abilene Tucker new girl in town Gideon Tucker Abilenersquos father Lettie and Ruthanne friends of Abilene Pastor Shady Howard still a little shady Hattie Mae Macke still writing ldquoHattie Maersquos News Auxiliaryrdquo Ivan DeVore still postmaster Velma T still the chemistry teacher Sister Redempta still a nun Miss Sadie still a diviner Mr Underhill still the undertaker Mr Cooper the barber Mrs Dawkins owner of Dawkins Drug and Dime Mrs Evans woman who sits on her porch and stares.
