Perseverence in the Pumpkin Patch: The Great Pumpkin Returns by Scott Jerrold

Every fall, while all the kids in the neighborhood pick out their Halloween costumes, Linus Van Pelt writes a very important letter.

"Don't tell me you're writing another letter to that ridiculous fruit," Lucy says. "There's no such thing as the Great Pumpkin!"

But Linus is not deterred by his big sister's lack of belief. Hope springs eternal, and if Linus can just line up at least one true believer, he just knows the Great Pumpkin will appear in the pumpkin patch.

But recruitment of true believers is not promising. Sally had bad memories of falling for that promise last year and missing out on all her treats.

"Fool me once, shame on you!

Fool me twice and I'll SUE!"

Franklin, Pigpen, and Marcie turn him down flat. Even the empathetic Charlie Brown declines, saying gently that he truly does understand how much Linus believes in the Great Pumpkin:

"Does that help?"

No. It doesn't. But perhaps Peppermint Patty is a possibility. At least she has no bad memories from last year.

"What's the Great Pumpkin?"

Linus waxes eloquent as he describes the bounty the Great Pumpkin can bestow to those who believe. Patty promises that she can provide the pureness of heart and gratitude if she can expect a real haul.

Marcie tries to warn her.

"Don't do it, sir!" she whispers. "The Great Pumpkin isn't REAL!"

But Peppermint Patty has a Plan B. She hands her treat bag to Marcie with orders to bring it back full.

Linus instructs his new postulant in what it takes to please the Great Pumpkin:

1. Believe in the Great Pumpkin.
2. Sit in the most sincere pumpkin patch.
3. Never give up hope.
4. Never tell the Great Pumpkin what you want.

But the moon rises and the wait grows long. And when Patty whispers that she hopes that the Great Pumpkin brings her a new baseball glove, Linus is outraged. She is not following the rules. Now the Great Pumpkin won't come this year either.

"Well, it's not like you gave me a brochure to read!" Patty complains.

It looks like Year Two of the Appearance of The Great Pumpkin is going to be a no-show, too, in the new The Great Pumpkin Returns (Peanuts), but Simon Spotlight pulls out all the stops in this new trick-or-treat outing of the Charles Schulz gang. Hope happily springs eternal in Linus Van Pelt's true-blue heart, and this inexpensive paperback is a funny sequel to the original favorite, replete with sparkly French covers and with comic characterizations by Scott Jerrold that are faithful to Charles Schulz's originals.

We could all do with a bit more benevolence and sincerity in our own pumpkin patches, and with Peppermint Patty as his straight man and skeptic, Linus again has plenty of hope (and a homemade popcorn ball, courtesy of Snoopy and Woodstock) in this new Peanuts Halloween adventure.