GRANDFATHER'S DAY

Rudeen didn't really mind giving up her bedroom when Grampa moved in, but she can't understand why he is so unkempt and uncommunicative—he won't even visit her school on Grandfather's Day after she has bragged about how well he plays the harmonica. Then, when her parents are out, Rudeen awakens in a panic during a thunderstorm. Her desperate cries for help pull Grampa out of his isolation, and they begin to form a bond as he talks about how Rudeen resembles the wife he has been mourning. Rudeen is a Ramona- like character who may seem immature for her nine years, but her vacillation between sympathy and resentment and her grandfather's gradual return to normal functioning after his recent bereavement are believable. Several of the b&w drawings emphasize the story's more somber aspects; the jacket painting shows one of the lighter moments that keep the narrative from becoming maudlin. (Fiction. 7- 10)