OLA SHAKES IT UP

Hyppolite (Seth and Samona, 1995, not reviewed) gives an old story—moving to a new town—an unusual twist and a very appealing protagonist. Ola doesn't like the idea of moving from their old house in Roxbury to a planned community in Massachusetts: There are rules (no clotheslines, no bikes left outside), but more important, hers is the first black family in town. At first, Ola's older siblings Aeisha and Khatib fall in with her plans to sabotage the move, but the facts persuade them otherwise: They live in a large, lovely new house, Aeisha is delighted both by the new school's honors program and the boy across the street, and Khatib covertly discovers the joys of dance. Ola has to ``shake it up'' on her own, and her irrepressible energy eventually enchants a neighbor or two, as well as a few classmates who initially reacted to her Roxbury roots with fear. Ola's family—with its emphasis on collective decisions, its taking in of a Haitian refugee, and its warm, sensible parents—is a joy to observe. Ola is very funny, and if she occasionally employs a vocabulary beyond the average nine-year-old's, her stubbornness and wildly elaborate plans ring true. A warmhearted look at a potentially explosive emotional situation, handled with grace and humor. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 10-13)