THE BEAN KING’S DAUGHTER

Phoebe is 12 when her octogenarian father dies, leaving her with the latest in a long string of stepmothers and Henry, the butler who has cared for her since she was a baby. Poppy was the Bean King, unimaginably wealthy, and she hadn’t even met his last wife, Vicki who is very blonde and very brash. Phoebe is convinced Vicki’s only after the money she’ll get if she sticks it out with Phoebe for six months. But when Phoebe, Vicki, and Henry slip away to the ranch in Arizona where Vicki grew up, Phoebe learns about life outside of Chicago, and that Vicki wants money for some very interesting reasons. This brief, lighter-than-air tale is both amusing and engaging: there is way more to Vicki than meets the eye; Phoebe genuinely loved and misses her father; and the pleasures of being rich are not denied, but displayed right along with the less savory aspects. The thirtysomething Henry is a lovely character: made of equal parts Batman’s Alfred, Lord Peter’s Bunter, and Hugh Grant. He genuinely loves Phoebe, and is looking out for her interests in all the right ways. Fluffy and fun, with just the right touch of message. (Fiction. 8-12)