A story that, like Cooney's Miss Rumphuis (1982) and Island Boy (1988), presents the life of an idiosyncratic character in the context of a historical setting. Hattie's parents, German immigrants, are already wealthy; Papa, who is "in the woodwork business," has built a beautiful house with gleaming paneling in every room. There are servants, a summer "cottage" at Far Rockaway, and—as time goes on—ever more luxurious surroundings. Quietly undeterred by affluence, Hattie makes a good friend of the cook's granddaughter and, as an inveterate artist who has always been inspired by the sea, grows up to enroll in art school—not "just like Opa" (her mother's father, a painter) but, as Hattie says, "Just like me." Hattie's Papa, like Cooney's grandfather, builds a fine Brooklyn hotel where the family later lives. This engaging piece of fictionalized family history is graced with Cooney's usual fine illustrations, with fluent, perfectly balanced compositions, delectable, lucid color, and nifty authentic detail. A disarming portrait that makes clear that wealth is incidental to a happy, creative life.
Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 0-670-83056-9
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
1882
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-689-82979-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1999
A well-loved author brings together, on a Maine vacation, characters from two of her books. Peter's parents have assured him that though Sheila ("The Great") Tubman and her family will be nearby, they'll have their own house; but instead, they find a shared arrangement in which the two families become thoroughly intertwined—which suits everyone but the curmudgeonly Peter. Irrepressible little brother Fudge, now five, is planning to marry Sheila, who agrees to babysit with Peter's toddler sister; there's a romance between the grandparents in the two families; and the wholesome good fun, including a neighborhood baseball game featuring an aging celebrity player, seems more important than Sheila and Peter's halfhearted vendetta. The story's a bit tame (no controversies here), but often amusingly true to life and with enough comic episodes to satisfy fans.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1990
ISBN: 0-525-44672-9
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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