BEN AND THE SUDDEN TOO-BIG FAMILY

When asked about his philosophy of life in school, ten-year-old Ben Mitchell posits that some things are all-right and some things are not-all-right. He and his dad Mitch are a two-man crew until Mitch meets Casey. Ben thinks Casey’s all right; he’s not too distressed when Mitch marries her. Ben is a little less certain things can remain in the all-right column when Mitch and Casey decide to go ahead with the adoption of a Chinese baby girl whom Casey had been planning to adopt as a single parent. Maudie Mingmei can cause problems, but she’s actually all-right enough. Then the family attends a week-long party for Casey’s parents, and the extended family is just too big. Ben feels lost until he finds a couple of kindred souls in Casey’s aunt Nora and his new cousin JJ. Rodowsky’s latest makes excellent bibliotherapy for boys with the blended-family blues. Ben’s appealing first-person narration sounds like the musings of a real kid, and his story has a refreshing lack of major trauma. Even readers who aren’t in his situation will identify. (Fiction 9-12)