BEAT THE TURTLE DRUM

by Constance C. Greene ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1976

A nice, affecting, clearly remembered family story that shifts gears with a jolt. It starts as a relaxed, first-person narrative, dotted with 13-year-old Kate's childhood memories about her sister Joss, who is now all excited about the horse she's going to rent for a week as an 11th birthday gift. Then the horse and the birthday arrive and as Kate describes it, ""we were all caught up in a net of summer contentment""in fact the idyll might threaten to grow monotonous if Kate hadn't just hinted at ""something terrible."" What it is marks the next break: the girls climb a tree, Joss falls out and dies instantly, and the rest of the book chronicles the following days of family numbness and grief. Leaving the reader almost as unprepared as Kate is for the tragedy could be considered sneaky, but it's certainly effective; young readers lulled by Greene's net of contentment are bound to share Kate's shock as well as her earlier pleasure.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1976

Categories: FICTION