An engaging tale from Rodowsky (Not My Dog, p. 150, etc.) about an inveterate “fixer” who learns that some situations are beyond repair. In the summer after seventh grade, sensible, reliable Cassie’s world goes into a dizzying spin. Even as her sister, Cindy, lies in the maternity ward, Cassie spots her charming, funny brother-in-law, Mickey, making out with another woman. She has always prided herself on her ability to fix anything, from a conflict at school to collapsed sand castles, but the world of adult problems proves especially daunting: suddenly, with her newborn, Cindy’s moving back to the Spindrift, the bed-and-breakfast where Cassie lives with her mother and grandmother, Emma; Mickey is telling Cassie that he’s not ready to be tied down; and Cassie finds a bikini in her sister’s house that is definitely not Cindy’s. In the wake of all that comes her mother’s announcement that they’ll be moving, since Emma has found a buyer for the bed-and-breakfast. Rodowsky eases the strain for Cassie (and readers) by including a supporting cast of calming age-mates and Will, a wise older head. Mickey gets no sympathy, but he’s not completely vilified either; Cindy, angry and bitter, just labels him immature as she goes off to find a divorce lawyer. The far more promising wedding of Will and Emma ends the story on a rising tone. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: March 29, 2000
ISBN: 0-374-37155-5
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1999
PLB 0-688-13166-2 King Midas And The Golden Touch ($16.00; PLB $15.63; Apr.; 32 pp.; 0-688-13165-4; PLB 0-688-13166-2): The familiar tale of King Midas gets the golden touch in the hands of Craft and Craft (Cupid and Psyche, 1996). The author takes her inspiration from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s retelling, capturing the essence of the tale with the use of pithy dialogue and colorful description. Enchanting in their own right, the illustrations summon the Middle Ages as a setting, and incorporate colors so lavish that when they are lost to the uniform gold spurred by King Midas’s touch, the point of the story is further burnished. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-13165-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
Lunge-Larsen and Preus debut with this story of a flower that blooms for the first time to commemorate the uncommon courage of a girl who saves her people from illness. The girl, an Ojibwe of the northern woodlands, knows she must journey to the next village to get the healing herb, mash-ki- ki, for her people, who have all fallen ill. After lining her moccasins with rabbit fur, she braves a raging snowstorm and crosses a dark frozen lake to reach the village. Then, rather than wait for morning, she sets out for home while the villagers sleep. When she loses her moccasins in the deep snow, her bare feet are cut by icy shards, and bleed with every step until she reaches her home. The next spring beautiful lady slippers bloom from the place where her moccasins were lost, and from every spot her injured feet touched. Drawing on Ojibwe sources, the authors of this fluid retelling have peppered the tale with native words and have used traditional elements, e.g., giving voice to the forces of nature. The accompanying watercolors, with flowing lines, jewel tones, and decorative motifs, give stately credence to the story’s iconic aspects. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90512-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
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