Out of the Box

Out of the Box by Michelle Mulder

I thought this book sounded really promising but I was highly disappointed with it.  There were way too many things going on and it was poorly written.  It's the story of a girl who goes to spend the summer with her Aunt, who has recently lost her life partner (yes, she is a lesbian) and is dealing with her own grief.  While helping her Aunt clean her basement she finds a bandonoen, an Argentinian musical instrument similar to an accordian.  Inside the case is money, and plane tickets from many years ago so she decides to try and find out who used to own this instrument which leads her to discover many atrocities that happened in Argentina.  Added to this she is slowly discovering that her parents may have serious mental health issues that need to be dealt with.  All of this in 160 pages!!  The only reason why I bothered to finish it was because I wanted to see how it ended and I was disappointed with that as well!  Good thing I only wasted a few hours reading it.  If it had been any longer I wouldn't have bothered.   The only thing I really enjoyed about this book is that it takes place in Victoria and I recognized a lot of the places they went to.