THE DOWNTOWN DAY

by Linda Strauss Edwards ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 15, 1983

A fairly pedestrian shopping trip, as organized by Aunt Sophie and Aunt Dadie--two dumpy, overweight, gray-haired women who must be Linda's great-aunts, like Edwards' own great-aunts Sophie and Dadie whom she mentions on the jacket-flap. ""All I want is a red sweater that buttons down the front, like Marcia Leonard has,"" insists Linda from the start, but the aunts just answer that a red sweater would clash with her red hair. So they haul her around to try on boring underwear, dresses she doesn't want, and a coat. And when Linda still asks for the red sweater, they whisper to each other, ""I never heard such talking back"" and ""children these days, it's terrible."" At that, Linda decides to hide. She hears the aunts bewail her disappearance, but then they change their tack: ""And all along I was knitting her [a sweater] exactly like that. . . . I have it right here in my tote bag. . . . We could give it to Marcia Leonard""--which last brings Linda out of hiding to don the new sweater and ride home ""feeling very happy."" Edwards aims for a fond, folksy touch in the schleppy caricatured aunts but ends up with a fairly drab package.

Pub Date: April 15, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Pantheon

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1983

Categories: CHILDREN'S