Prudence, a seventeen-year-old misfit living in the small northwestern town of Flintlock, has just been diagnosed with cancer that may be fatal. On a whim, she knocks on the door of 17 Marigold Lane, the "spook house," whose owner is almost never seen. She is surprised to find an autistic boy her age named Cassius Shooster, who has been kept inside by his parents his whole life. Cassius's existence turns out to be tied to years-old mysteries, which Prudence investigates while she falls in love with Cassius.
The books in the series:
- 17 Marigold Lane: The Odd Boy (2015)
- 19 Marigold Lane: The New Neighbor (2019)
- 21 Marigold Lane (TBA)
The Prudence Penderhaus series contains examples of:
- The Alcoholic: Cassius's mom spends most of her time passed out drunk in front of the TV.
- Behavioral Conditioning: Cassius's parents used aversion therapy. They covered Andrew's body with roses so Cassius would associate the flower with death and darkness, then filled the sitting room with rose-covered knickknacks so he wouldn't want to walk through it, thus preventing escape attempts. It works until Cassius starts climbing out through the window.
- Character Tics: Cassius snaps his fingers next to his ears, especially when he's stressed out or overwhelmed.
- Commonality Connection: Prudence likes Cassius because he's odd, like she is. He understands her better than any of the other kids.
- Creepy Basement: The Shoosters punish Cassius by locking him in "the hole," a pitch-black, unfinished basement where they keep Andrew's skeleton.
- Fainting: The increasingly severe pain from the tumor in Prudence's arm causes her to faint sometimes.
- Fiery Cover Up: In 19 Marigold Lane, Prudence and her friends break into their suspicious new neighbor's house. In the basement, they find boxes of files containing detailed information on Cassius - both the results of recent surveillance, and information dating back to his infancy. The protagonists leave before the owner comes home. A few minutes later, they learn that when they broke in, they triggered a booby trap that is now burning the house down, destroying all the information in the basement.
- First Kiss: Prudence and Cassius kiss at the Halloween dance.
- Flipping the Bird:
- When Prudence is planning to cut school, she flips a group of gossiping students the double bird and says, "Suck it, Flintlock High."
- In the second book, Cassius gets in a fight with some reporters who were harassing him. As the reporters drive away, one of them leans out the van window to flip them off. Cassius and Prudence both flip them off. They all keep their middle fingers out until the van is out of sight.
- Food Slap: Morgan Pennington throws his Big Gulp at Prudence from his car. Her excuse for knocking on the Shoosters' door is so she can clean off in their bathroom.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: After Prudence knock out Mrs. Shooster while helping Cassius escape from the basement, Cassius is crying, and Prudence can't get him to move. Bonnie slaps him in the face and says, "Cut it out, Shooster." Cassius replies calmly, "It's not funny." Quoting Fright Night (1985) calms him down enough to start walking.
- Happy Rain: It's raining when Prudence gets Cassius to go outside for the first time. He spins around, laughing, with his mouth open to the sky.
- Hates Being Nicknamed: Cassius angrily corrects anyone who calls him "Cass."
- Held Back in School: Prudence's friend Bonnie Templeton is a delinquent who's repeating senior year.
- Homeschooled Kids: Mrs. Shooster would have preferred to keep Cassius locked like an animal in the basement, but Mr. Shooster, the only parent who cares about him at all, insisted that he be given a room on the second floor, where Mr. Shooster teaches him lessons so he doesn't grow up completely feral.
- The Last Dance: Prudence knocks on the Shoosters' door because, since she's dying, she might as well do something people will remember, like seeing if the rumor that they have a coffin in their living room is true.
- Love-Obstructing Parents: At first Prudence's mom supports Cassius, but the more serious Prudence becomes about their relationship, the more she thinks Prudence is throwing her life away on someone who can never be a proper boyfriend. She repeatedly tells Prudence to stay away from Cassius, and at one point bans him from the house, although it doesn't last.
- Madman in the Attic: Cassius has been kept inside due to his parents' belief that he is dangerous and unpredictable.
- Not What It Looks Like:
- In 19 Marigold Lane, Cassius feels like he's going to float away, so Prudence lies on top of him on the floor to provide comforting pressure. When Sonny walks in on them, Prudence says, "It's not what it looks like," and Cassius helpfully adds, "I was floating."
- Later, Prudence's mom walks in to find Cassius in bed with Prudence. Prudence truthfully says that nothing happened, but her mom doesn't believe her and bans Cassius from the house.
- Police Brutality: When the police arrest Cassius for fighting with Morgan, they beat him up and break his nose.
- Shame If Something Happened: Prudence knows Morgan is involved in the cover-up. When she shows up at school in the second book for the first time since her cancer surgery, Morgan gives her a "friendly" pat on the shoulder calculated to cause pain to her recovering arm and says, "Call me stupid, but I think you're not quite ready to be back at school. I'd certainly feel bad if something happened, you know, if you're not feeling tip-top."
- Skipping School: After Prudence is diagnosed with cancer, she starts skipping school, which she's never done before, because she doesn't have to worry about her future anymore.
- Staircase Tumble: Cassius used to have a neurotypical twin named Andrew, who looked just like him. When the brothers were four, Mrs. Shooster tried to murder Cassius by pushing him down the basement stairs, but she accidentally killed Andrew instead. She told her husband that Cassius had killed his brother because of his violent nature, and needed to be locked away from the world before he killed someone else.
- This Is Reality: In the second book, Prudence thinks their new neighbors are up to some horrible crime. Her mom says, "Prudence, this is real life. The likelihood of something horrific coming of a new neighbor are... are as... uh-" Prudence says, "As high as a hidden boy and a buried body living right up the street? Because that happened."
- Tragic Keepsake: Prudence's mom has kept a stash of her dad's stuff in the back of the closet since he died five years ago. It comes in handy after Mrs. Shooster throws out all of Cassius's belongings, including his clothes, and Prudence lends him some of her dad's clothes.
- Troubled Fetal Position: Cassius lies curled up on the floor while locked in the hole.
- Your Mom: Prudence tells Morgan, "Get bent, Pennington." Morgan replies, "Already did with your mom." Prudence asks, "Did she provide the magnifying glass or did you?" It takes Morgan a moment to realize he's been insulted.
- You Should Have Died Instead: Mrs. Shooster repeatedly tells Cassius that she wishes he'd died instead of Andrew.
