Pearson (The Secret Box, 1997, etc.) leaves nothing between the lines in this patchy tale of a perfect family that turns out to be anything but. To Maddie, the vivacious, unconventional McBeans have always made her own Illinois family look dull, and so, a year and a half after their move to California, she looks forward eagerly to a two-week stay with them. She finds them as welcoming as ever—more so, as her friend Beanie’s older brother Buddy, formerly a bully of the worst sort, gives her a warm hello. Beanie, on the other hand, seems more of a wimp than ever, moody, self-deprecating, and clumsy. Initially, Maddie finds Buddy’s recklessness more exciting than scary, and discounts Beanie’s warnings, but his true colors come out, in a contrived way, during a beach party. Refusing, as always, to see what Buddy is really like, the McBean parents turn on Maddie; she cuts her visit short and flies home, newly appreciative of her own staid but reliable parents, and meditating on the raw deal both Beanie and Buddy have gotten from theirs. Readers will have trouble accepting both Maddie’s friendship, characterized more by dissension than commonalities, with Beanie, and her attraction to the so obviously dysfunctional McBean family in general, but the point that fair surface can hide foul heart is strongly, unflinchingly driven home. (Fiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-689-82579-X
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A breezy middle-school romance from Frank (Will You Be My Brussels Sprout?, 1996, etc.). Not only does the level of domestic tension rise rapidly after her mother’s Uncle Max, recovering from a stroke, moves into the cramped Cooper apartment, but Joy suddenly finds herself on the outs with her best friend Maple, who has become joined at the hip to amateur musician Wade. Joy makes a new connection, too, due to some surreptitious matchmaking by Uncle Max: enter a friendly, eminently promising older schoolmate, also named Max. While this budding relationship is growing into full-scale delirium, Joy returns the favor by encouraging Uncle Max and his garrulous neighbor, Rose, to spend time together; by the end, Uncle Max follows Rose to her winter quarters in Florida, and offers to trade his roomy apartment for theirs. Cast with likable, well-meaning characters, driven more by cheers than tears, this tidily resolved New York City tale will please Frank’s fans, and send newcomers to her earlier books. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7894-2538-6
Page Count: 277
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A teenager suffers through her parents’ separation in this smoothly stylized, if conventional, debut. Aurora’s world comes crashing down when she catches her artist father nuzzling a model. Rory, a talented artist herself, furiously burns her sketchbook; suddenly he’s gone, leaving Rory and her mother wallowing in teary guilt, sending back a letter with lines that infuriate: “one day you’ll understand,” and “someday, when you’re older . . . “ Rory stops all painting and drawing, and curls up around the hurt, stonewalling even her best friend, Nicky. Rory’s almost continual awareness of light and color gives her a convincing artist’s voice, and Mack sets her back on her feet in the end, with the help of time, Nicky’s loyalty, and a startling gift from her father: her charred sketchbook, rescued and repaired both as a sign of his love, and to remind her to believe in herself. Psychological insight here is but skin deep, and the characters play it pretty close to type, but readers may be affected by the story’s overall emotional intensity. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-439-11202-8
Page Count: 168
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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