Tru & Nelle: A Christmas Tale

Oh boy, I could not wait to get my hands on this book!!!

Tru & Nelle: A Christmas Tale picks up four years later with Tru running away from his New York Military School, back home to Alabama. He missed his family. He missed Big Boy. But really he missed Nelle. Obviously, that's who he decides to see before anyone else.

Once finally deciding to head to his old house, he slips into bed with is blankie and Sook.

But suddenly there was smoke and then the whole house was just....gone.

Christmas was obviously ruined at this point and Tru needed to fix it. After all, it's his fault that bad luck follows him everywhere.

So they set off to find the perfect Christmas tree, when they run into bully, Boss, son of the Klan's ex-Grand Dragon. They know they're in big trouble but don't really know what to do. Best to go talk to A.C. Lee, he'll know what to do.

Soon after, Nelle is on a crime scene with A.C. when she realizes there were actually TWO perpetrators, and he thinks that old, black man may have seen something. She soon learns that they're looking for two colored men, one who was injured in the robbery.

But in Monroeville, Alabama in the 1930's, that statement alone will bring some heat.

    When two colored men show up at Big Boy's house, one of them with a limp, Nelle knows it must have been them. They committed a crime....

But that wasn't the case. 

Two men hanged for a crime they didn't commit.

All because the jury was 12 white men, one of whom was the son of the victim.

Seems a little unjust to me, but again 1930's Alabama.

There's also a lot of references and scenes including the Klan which always throws me off because it's a kids book. But honestly, things like this did and do still happen. 

G. Neri is a fantastic storyteller.

I loved reading this, just as much as I loved the first Tru & Nelle novel. 

I love how he paints Tru's eccentric personality and Nelle's tomboy attitude. 

I love that he's from the Gulf Coast (just like me!).

I love that he got to spend time research two fantastic authors and decided to portray them as children with big, big imaginations.

Basically, I love everything about Tru & Nelle.

Looking for the rest of the series?
Tru & Nelle (Tru & Nelle #1)

Looking books by Truman Capote?

In Cold Blood
Other Voices, Other Rooms
The Grass Harp

Breakfast at Tiffany's

The Complete Stories of Truman Capote

Music for Chameleons

Answered Prayers

Looking for other books featuring Truman Capote and Harper Lee?
No Saints in Kansas