As a child, this writer had strong opinions about hand-me-down books, shirts and toys. One older sibling and two grown-up cousins in a small town had rendered buying playthings pointless in her growing-up years. So, many of her miniatures and board games had a hodgepodge personality. It was unique in its own way. Cut to the present, foggy memories of such hand-me-downs strangely help her hatch a happy place.

The young reviewer reads a pre-loved book