What a gift: Two delectably funny books coming out in April, old-hand Lowry's (below) and this splendid debut. While their parents go to Europe on business, Jazz and her brother Koo are left with wealthy, white-suited Grandpa Putter, whose WW II crony chauffeurs his long white car, and--from the other side--with feisty, down-to-earth Granny Hoe, who runs a hardware store where she also sells her own garden produce. Custody is shared, with the twins at Granny's on weekends, leaving plenty of room for disagreement between the spirited longtime antagonists: to the kids' consternation, their elders' ebullient bickering is continual. Ten varied incidents (Granny fixes Grandpa's car after it strands him; Jazz gets sick; the kids prepare a generous picnic for a homeless person; a parade, etc.) deftly develop several affectionate relationships, especially through the kids' efforts to get everybody together and through the grandparents' sprouting mutual respect. It's all amusingly recorded in Fakih's briskly lilting narrative and neatly cadenced dialogue. Several chapters end with nifty tallies of the characters' points of view (wittily concise, these summaries recall Barbara Porte's tongue-in-cheek humor); meanwhile, the grands' bickering makes a comical stand-in for the more bitter conflicts children endure between parents or siblings. Illustrations plentiful, though not seen in finished form; Pearson's lighthearted style should be perfect here. A delightful early chapter book, well worth reading aloud. (Fiction. 6-10)
