CHLOE IN THE KNOW

Independent-minded Chloe, eldest child of three in the Kane family (Hurricane Harry, 1991, etc.), accompanies her mother through amniocentesis, sticks up for little brother Harry when he's unjustly accused of lying, and admits she's plagiarized a poem for her grandmother's birthday. Thus far, she's known only the disadvantages of being the oldest (she's sure she'll end up diapering the new baby when it arrives). But after she lists her hardships in writing, Chloe is lucky enough to get a wise, loving response from her parents. She alone knows the baby's gender; it's she who talks her father out of naming it ``Dakota.'' The Kanes' travails are as familiar as a comfortable old chair. A class trip to N.Y.C.'s Chinatown, knowledge that her own mother once unwittingly hurt her grandmother's feelings, worry over a crossing-guard's absence—these morsels make up Chloe's world; her triumphs should bring a smile. (Fiction. 7-10)