When seven year old Kristy wakes up in the hospital after having been hit by a car, she does not realize how deformed she will seem to the outside world. It is only after she goes, in typical excitement, to her first day at a new school that Kristy, taunted and stared at by the other children, begins to think of her facial scar as ugly. Her life is further complicated by the fact that during her mother's absence to have a baby, a young aunt left in charge fails to cope with the unfamiliar household routines and the seriously upset little girl. This results in Kristy's return to the hospital in juvenile despair, determined not to leave until her doctor has ""made her all right."" His solution, a king-sized bandage, is momentarily satisfying, but finally discarded because, ...""it's a cheat."" It does help in her adjustment to circumstances and the other children to Kristy's condition. The author has a rare gift for conveying a child's sensitivity in a way other children will be able to understand. There are moments of real humor and tenderness and (most unusual) snatches of very real sounding adult conversation, the sort every child overhears. That this is a translation from the Norwegian probably accounts for occasional awkwardness in the dialogue as well as the really irritating baby talk imposed on Kristy's younger brother. Nevertheless, this is a realistic treatment of a situation some children experience and it is movingly told.