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THE TAMI STORIES

A fun canine character overcomes mediocre writing and illustrations to charm younger children.

A curious little dog causes havoc, for which she is quickly forgiven on account of being so darn cute.

Tami the dog likes to escape from home. The world is full of interesting places and fascinating things like fireworks and piles of canned goods, so she doesn’t see why she should stay put inside the house. In a series of rhyming poems, Harvey spins several tales about Tami’s adventures from her owner’s viewpoint, a young schoolboy. Tami runs off to the grocery store, school, a concert and out into the rain where she makes good use of an umbrella. Luckily, her owners are good-natured and forgiving, even though she causes them to miss the second half of a formal concert and hurts her hip while running amok in a grocery store, requiring a visit to the veterinarian. But the mayhem seems worth it when Tami and her owner snuggle up together to watch the fireworks at a picnic. Harvey’s poems are occasionally impeded by awkward rhymes, such as “collar” and “her,” and “notice” and “this.” The cadence of the stanzas sometimes feels forced, which can make them difficult to read aloud to children. Overall, though, the poems are entertaining. Young children will especially appreciate Tami’s antics, but there are too few illustrations for the book’s target age group. Only 11 of the 45 pages are devoted to pictures; younger children are more likely to focus on books that provide more visual stimulation. The pictures that are included are competent but somewhat superficial–they match the narrative but don’t add to the story. Despite these weaknesses, this is an enjoyable story about a spunky little dog determined to have a good time.

A fun canine character overcomes mediocre writing and illustrations to charm younger children.

Pub Date: July 15, 2008

ISBN: 978-1-4196-8823-2

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010

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MAGIC HOUR

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.

Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Pub Date: March 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-345-46752-3

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005

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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.

"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

Pub Date: June 15, 1951

ISBN: 0316769177

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951

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