TANGLED FORTUNES
by Margaret Mahy & illustrated by Marian Young
In the fourth book of The Cousins Quartet, Tracey and her sidekick, younger brother Jackson, are the inadvertent causes of their cousin Prue's reconciliation with her ex-husband, Sy Kennedy. Mahy (The Greatest Show Off Earth, p. 1412, etc.) engineers this happy outcome with a pleasing tangle of cross- purposes, comic misunderstandings, and good intentions. Hoping to be a bridesmaid at Prue's impending nuptials to a better connected young man, Tracey tries to separate herself from Jackson and, for the first time in months, wears her only dress to school. Now too small, it pops at every seam and she spends an awkward day paper-clipping it together. Realizing the futility of this oblique approach, she asks Prue to include her, which her good-natured cousin is glad to do. Meanwhile, Jackson—who's been driving his teacher crazy with rhythmical knocking—receives mysterious messages which he cleverly decodes. Arriving at the appointed place (home of Sy's relatives), he's invited to join a band as drummer. Will these kids play well enough to be chosen for the wedding? Probably not. But after Sy and Prue rediscover each other, it's called off anyhow. As usual, Mahy spins a fresh and lively tale while subtly ripening her characters; Tracey and Jackson stay good friends while he grows more independent and she samples a less tomboyish image. Quieter than its predecessors, but with a satisfying conclusion. (Fiction. 8-11)