MOUNTAIN ROSE

by Patti Stren ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 30, 1982

A shaggy non-sequitur in deadpan style, hand lettering, and quick, quirky doodles. Rose is big as a baby and keeps on growing. She hates being big until the high school wrestling coach discovers her and launches her on a winning career. Rose trains, goes pro, defeats the Ladies' Wrestling Champion of the World, and is finally scheduled to wrestle the men's champion, Gardenia Gus. Again, Rose trains hard and virtuously (""Yech!! Liver,"" says a label in the sketch of her dining table), while Gus is watching TV and gorging on junk food. So Rose wins--but the match ends in an embrace when Gus' trunks slip down in back to reveal an elephant birthmark that matches hers on her wrist. Hence, ""'Gus! I've found you--my long lost brother!' 'Rose? Is it YOU? The kid sister I've been looking for all my life?'"" This flat, ingenuous life story maintains a share of what-happens-next interest, but the interest is let down in the end by the sheer irrelevance of what does happen.

Pub Date: March 30, 1982

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Unicorn/Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1982

Categories: CHILDREN'S