No Return Address (Rapid Reads)

No Return Address is well written and entertaining. It is an amusing story about a family that doesn’t behave like families should. They haven’t seen each other for a year and, as a result, are very lonely.

There are five characters in the story: Rhonda, her son Cody, brother Doug, Rhonda’s aunt Lisa, her mother Meg’s sister, and Susan the post mistress. The action takes place on the first anniversary of Meg’s death.

Rhonda, the main character, goes to the post office and receives a package and letter from her mother Meg. How is this possible? How can the deceased communicate with the living? The reader wonders if Meg is really dead. As the story unfolds, readers learn that Doug, Lisa and Susan have also received letters. With the letters, they, too, received small packages.

Rhonda’s package contains her brother’s childhood yo yo. Lisa’s letter asks her to give Cody the guitar Meg had given her. She had never liked the guitar and is only too happy to give it to Cody. Doug’s package contains a tiny ballerina from Rhonda’s childhood. Susan receives a letter with a teacup. The letter asks Susan to take the cup to Rhonda’s and have tea with her.

At the end, readers learn that Meg had asked her good friend Susan to send the packages. The teacup was a reward for Susan’s help. Meg wanted to bring her family together and help them to act like a family. They were all lonely, and, as a result of Meg’s plan, loneliness becomes a thing of the past.