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KAT’S PROMISE by Bonnie Shimko

KAT’S PROMISE

by Bonnie Shimko

Pub Date: Aug. 1st, 2006
ISBN: 0-15-205473-1
Publisher: Harcourt

Kat’s already precarious family dynamics are shaken completely when the aunt whom she blames for her mother’s death becomes her guardian. Aunt Paulina had refused to provide funds for a possibly life-saving operation. Her version of family history is at odds with Kat’s memories, and her treatment of Kat is governed entirely by bitterness and anger. Kat’s new life is filled with strange revelations, new relationships and danger. The housekeeper is really her paternal grandmother; a neighbor becomes a mentor and protector. There is also a friend’s pregnancy scare and a near rape by Paulina’s new boyfriend. But there’s a happy ending for Kat, and Paulina gets her comeuppance. Kat is a sympathetic character who approaches her problems with courage and honesty. But Shimko does not fully develop any of the other characters, and several plot elements are contrived and somewhat over the top. A near miss. (Fiction. 12-15)