Downing (Daphne's Song) has written a sensitive, moving story that focuses on a family in crisis. When Dad loses his job at the steel mill, 12-year-old Kathleen, her mother, and her three younger sisters must leave their Baltimore home and move to the Chesapeake Bay community of Bay View to live with Uncle Charlie, Aunt Doris, and spoiled 14-year-old Fay. Looking after the younger girls is a job that falls to skinny, brainy, "sensible" Kathleen, who does her best but never seems able to please her tired, tense Mom or the rest of the adults. Kathleen, her 10-yea-old sister Patsy, and Fay are sworn enemies; nevertheless, the sisters discover that Fay has a secret—Joe, 20-year-old sailor-boyfriend who thinks Fay's 18. All the sisters eventually meet Joe at the beach. He's likable and fun and seems to take a brotherly interest in Kathleen, who develops a crush on him. At a local carnival, Patsy tattles about Fay's real age to Joe, and Fay is grounded when her parents see them together. Kathleen feels sorry for her cousin, and the two become more or less friends, to Patsy's chargin. Kathleen's relationship with her mother is on shakier ground, however, especially after she learns that Mom is pregnant again. She finally confronts her mother in an uncharacteristic explosion of temper, which serves to clear the air and to reestablish their loving, confiding relationship. Dad takes a job at Uncle Charlie's gas station, which means the family will be together, albeit in Bay View, not in Baltimore. Downing has drawn an evocative portrait of the struggling American family of our times. Readers who come from similar backgrounds will find it easy to identify with them.
Pub Date: Oct. 21, 1985
ISBN: 0380716356
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1985
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
