FUCHSIA FIERCE

A little girl overcomes her fears to live up to her dramatic name.

Fuchsia Fierce is anything but fierce. She is a tiny, timid white gal. Despite the text’s insistence that “she was scared to try new things or stand out in a crowd,” she does have fuchsia hair and fuchsia clothing, and she wears patterns on top of patterns of polka dots and stripes. Not exactly inconspicuous. Regardless, she is shy. Her parents decide to send her to Camp Confidence. While there, nothing changes. She continues to make excuses to get out of activities. Finally she realizes that she is bored, and everyone else is having fun. So she plucks up her courage and soars! Curious readers may wonder why—if this is what she has always done—she hasn’t ever come to this conclusion before. Perhaps a change of scenery and community was needed. Canby’s muted backgrounds of grays, blues, and greens, with varied patterns to add flair, make Fuchsia stand out all the more (even her white skin has a fuchsia tint).

A pat lesson in an assertively colored package.