“If you’re saying grandpa ran away and left me to deal with all this because he was afraid or something, that’s not true-that’s not like him. You saw all those medals in the parlor. He would never run away from a fight.” Gwen is left with a crazy uncle, a house to herself, and an audition to prepare for when her grandfather mysteriously disappears. She doesn’t know what to do and her only option is to trust her grandfather and hope that he comes back, until she meets Rob. Rob changes her whole life around and she realizes things she never realized before. With the help of Rob can she find her missing grandfather? This paragraph shows you how mysterious and wonderful this book is. Things Hoped For, by Andrew Clements, is an amazing book that always leaves you guessing. If you want to find out where Gwen’s missing grandfather is and how she finds him you’ll have to read this book.

There are many things I liked about Things Hoped For by Andrew Clements. One of the things I really enjoyed that it was suspenseful, yet heartwarming. Throughout the whole book I never knew what was going to happen next. Another thing I liked about the book was that it was about music. I’m not usually interested in music, but this book made me want to play a violin. They used comparisons I would never think of using. By using comparisons it made me feel like I was in the moment.


The book seemed to jump from a sad topic to a happy topic and then back to a sad topic. I didn’t really like that because it made everything seem more confusing than it really was. The book might be hard for some people to understand. At any moment in the book something unthinkable could happen. I don’t really like that because when to many things are going on in the book I can’t concentrate on the most important part of the book. In conclusion, I think there are more pros then cons in Things Hoped For.

In the book there aren’t a lot of characters in the book, but each one of them has their own story. The main character Gwen is a strong, passionate, and brave girl, who isn’t afraid of anything. When a challenge strikes her she’s not afraid to take charge. When she meets Rob she’s more comfortable because Rob has a story of his own. Rob, a musician, is very smart and wants to help Gwen as much as he can. Together they work together to find Gwen’s missing grandfather. I think the author took a lot of time to create these characters.

The theme of this book is; always follow your heart and try to make the best choice possible. Once Gwen uncovers the truth she has to make a decision she never thought of making. So many emotions are going through her head and eventually when she thinks everything is going right, she meets William. William has an amazing story and might be able to help Gwen, or he could ruin her chances of finding her grandfather.

It seems like everything is going great in Gwendolyn Paige’s life. She travels to New York to study music and spend quality time with her grandpa. The most important music schools in New York are expecting on her to perform her best at the auditions. Suddenly, when everything seems to be going great, she gets a message from her grandfather. He’s gone, but to where? Gwen’s scared to death and doesn’t know what to do, until she meets Rob. Not only is Rob a fellow musician, but he has a story of his own. Together they try to work together and find her missing grandfather. If you read the mysterious, compelling, and amazing book Things Hoped For you’ll uncover the mystery to the missing grandfather.

All in all, Things Hoped For by Andrew Clements was a compelling book full of mystery, passion, and trust. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes music, heartwarming stories, and suspenseful books. If I had to rate this book I would give it four guitars out of five because I enjoyed it a lot and it was a very detailed book. In conclusion, I thought this book was great and if you want to know what happened to Gwen’s grandfather, you should read Things Hoped For by Andrew Clements.