THE GO-BETWEEN

A satisfying child's-eye view of a November romance: Gram, who shares narrator Lexi's room, often sends Lexi with a pot of tea for Murray Singer, who runs the newsstand they can see from their window, across N.Y.C.'s Broadway; he sends back newspapers inscribed with his own cheery messages. It develops that the two have secretly admired each other since childhood, when they played baseball together downtown on Grand Street; after Lexi reveals the feelings of each to the other, there's a wedding, with a party afterwards by Murray's stand. DiSalvo-Ryan reflects the story's warmth in her nicely constructed color pencil and watercolor art, capturing the neighborhood ambiance and depicting the happy couple as well into their 70s. Lexi must be seven or eight; the rather long text makes a good choice for independent readers of the same age. (Picture book/Young reader. 5-9)