Fifth-grader Paris McCray is a self-described polite person who tries to improve her vocabulary and makes lists of many kinds. She is a questioner and a reader and leads a school club designed to encourage her classmates to read. There is a school bully who targets her older brother Michael, a sweet-natured boy who marches to a different tune. With Michael sitting in, Paris also takes piano lessons from Mrs. Rosen, a Holocaust survivor. She understands only a little of what she is told of those events, and she equates Hitler and the Nazis to bullies and gangs. Her misconceptions lead to some disastrous, if well-intentioned actions. Michael, meanwhile, finds his own way to cope with the bullying. The children’s loving relationship with Mrs. Rosen leads to changes for the whole family. Codell has again given her readers quirky, delightful characters while tackling some mighty big subjects. A fine tale with a strong sense of right and wrong. (Fiction. 9-12)
