A bright future goes dim when Mandy's father is killed in WWII, and a returning veteran takes her mother's job. They have to move, to cranky Aunt Bess's farm. At first, Mandy doesn't want to fit in, either at her new school, or on the farm, where Aunt Bess tells her to tend the sheep—but her stubbornness begins to melt as she develops affection for the flock, and makes two friends. Still, she pines for her old town and the house her father had always talked of buying. A spring flood and a family crisis develop simultaneously when Mandy's mother proposes buying a local general store with Aunt Bess's lamb money; in a heavy rainstorm, Mandy finds the sheep cut off on a low rise, and must decide whether to prevent the sale by leaving them to their fate, or try a rescue. As it turns out, the water is already too deep, but she keeps the flock together through a long night, and by the time help arrives in the morning, has straightened her priorities. Willis plots a predictable but sturdy story, with a slightly antique flavor and a cast whose good hearts are frequently disguised beneath crusty or careless exteriors. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: March 27, 1995
ISBN: 0-395-68708-X
Page Count: 188
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1995
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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Set in 1937 during the so-called “Roosevelt recession,” tight times compel Mary Alice, a Chicago girl, to move in with her grandmother, who lives in a tiny Illinois town so behind the times that it doesn’t “even have a picture show.”
This winning sequel takes place several years after A Long Way From Chicago (1998) leaves off, once again introducing the reader to Mary Alice, now 15, and her Grandma Dowdel, an indomitable, idiosyncratic woman who despite her hard-as-nails exterior is able to see her granddaughter with “eyes in the back of her heart.” Peck’s slice-of-life novel doesn’t have much in the way of a sustained plot; it could almost be a series of short stories strung together, but the narrative never flags, and the book, populated with distinctive, soulful characters who run the gamut from crazy to conventional, holds the reader’s interest throughout. And the vignettes, some involving a persnickety Grandma acting nasty while accomplishing a kindness, others in which she deflates an overblown ego or deals with a petty rivalry, are original and wildly funny. The arena may be a small hick town, but the battle for domination over that tiny turf is fierce, and Grandma Dowdel is a canny player for whom losing isn’t an option. The first-person narration is infused with rich, colorful language—“She was skinnier than a toothpick with termites”—and Mary Alice’s shrewd, prickly observations: “Anybody who thinks small towns are friendlier than big cities lives in a big city.”
Year-round fun. (Fiction. 11-13)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 978-0-8037-2518-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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If Rotten Ralph were a boy instead of a cat, he might be Joey, the hyperactive hero of Gantos's new book, except that Joey is never bad on purpose. In the first-person narration, it quickly becomes clear that he can't help himself; he's so wound up that he not only practically bounces off walls, he literally swallows his house key (which he wears on a string around his neck and which he pull back up, complete with souvenirs of the food he just ate). Gantos's straightforward view of what it's like to be Joey is so honest it hurts. Joey has been abandoned by his alcoholic father and, for a time, by his mother (who also drinks); his grandmother, just as hyperactive as he is, abuses Joey while he's in her care. One mishap after another leads Joey first from his regular classroom to special education classes and then to a special education school. With medication, counseling, and positive reinforcement, Joey calms down. Despite a lighthearted title and jacket painting, the story is simultaneously comic and horrific; Gantos takes readers right inside a human whirlwind where the ride is bumpy and often frightening, especially for Joey. But a river of compassion for the characters runs through the pages, not only for Joey but for his overextended mom and his usually patient, always worried (if only for their safety) teachers. Mature readers will find this harsh tale softened by unusual empathy and leavened by genuinely funny events. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-374-33664-4
Page Count: 154
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1998
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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