"ELEVEN KIDS, ONE SUMMER"

by Ann M. Martin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1991

An episodic story uniting the big, alphabetically named family in Ten Kids, No Pets (1988) with the leads from Just a Summer Romance (1987). The Rossos are looking forward to their summer rental on Fire Island--a rambling old house on the beach. Abbie, the responsible eldest, is the focus of the first chapter as she worries about the complications of train travel with so many kids. In the ten subsequent chapters, each of the others takes center stage--little number ten, Janthina, gets a makeover on a movie set; solitary Calandra hopes and fears that the house next door is haunted; Ira seems to have Lyme disease, but quickly recovers; Faustine becomes a vegetarian and tries to convert her family--with the result that, though the chapters aren't independent stories, the characters perform so briefly that there's little chance to know them. Meanwhile, the hustle and bustle of a large family and its many interconnections are glimpsed but not really explored, despite an overabundance of details of daily life. The children do have walk-on roles in each other's stories, thus tidying up loose ends from their own. Easily read fare, sure to please fans of Martin's popular ""Babysitters"" books.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1991

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1991

Categories: CHILDREN'S