Dear Benjamin

At age 13, Benjamin Thacker is stunned to discover that his mother, who died five years before, has managed to reach out to him from the grave, and opened the door to much of her past that he knew little or nothing about. While Benjamin was just a small boy, his mother wrote a series of letters to him, explaining not only her life, but more importantly, the story behind that mysterious unmarked grave by the west fence, that nobody would ever talk to him about. He now has the key to the box where those letters have been hidden all these years. With trembling hands, he opens the box, picks up the letters, and begins to read.