A brash 11-year-old chronicles family changes in this brightly chatty import from the author of The Children Next Door (1996). In the diary that she starts at the urging of her English teacher, Cherry records: her impressions of each day’s school lunch (“Pond scum and glop pie, and a dollop of cold vomit”); the troubles of her best friend, Melanie Skinner (see title), whose widowed mother has a suitor dubbed “weird Melvin”; and, most important, the persistent campaign of her dorky new stepfather, a children’s-book illustrator (with the unfortunate name of Roland Butter), to win her over. Ure saddles Cherry with a set of particularly insensitive divorced parents, which makes sweet, silly, stoutly loyal Roland all the more appealing as he slips friendly notes written in rebuses under her door, consistently takes her side in spats with her mother, and finally breaks down her last-ditch defense by finding a puppy for her that doesn’t trigger his allergies. Spot illustrations add to the droll humor and offer the challenge of deciphering Roland’s notes. Readers may feel underestimated when Cherry recopies and translates all of them near the end, but this self-assured young narrator keeps things hopping, and her ultimate change of heart is well earned. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8050-6359-5
Page Count: 204
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2000
Fans of Cameron’s Huey and Julian stories (More Stories Huey Tells, 1997, etc.) are in for a treat as Gloria, their friend from those tales, gets a book of her own and graciously allows the two brothers to share it . In the first tale, Gloria makes a wonderful card for her mother, but the wind blows it away and it ends up in the cage of a cantankerous parrot. Thanks to Mr. Bates, Huey and Julian’s dad, the day is saved, as is the burgeoning friendship that Gloria and the boys have struck up with new neighbor Latisha in the story, “The Promise.” In another story, Gloria has to deal with a huge problem—fractions—and this time it’s her dad who helps her through it. Mr. Bates proves helpful again when the group trains an “obsessed” puppy, while Gloria’s mother is supportive when Gloria is unintentionally hurt by her three best friends. The stories are warm and funny, as Gloria, a spunky kid who gets into some strange predicaments, finds out that her friends and wise, loving adults are good to have around when trouble beckons. Great fun, with subtly placed, positive messages that never take center stage. (b&w illustrations) (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: March 9, 2000
ISBN: 0-374-32670-3
Page Count: 93
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
There is something profoundly elemental going on in Smalls’s book: the capturing of a moment of unmediated joy. It’s not melodramatic, but just a Saturday in which an African-American father and son immerse themselves in each other’s company when the woman of the house is away. Putting first things first, they tidy up the house, with an unheralded sense of purpose motivating their actions: “Then we clean, clean, clean the windows,/wipe, wipe, wash them right./My dad shines in the windows’ light.” When their work is done, they head for the park for some batting practice, then to the movies where the boy gets to choose between films. After a snack, they work their way homeward, racing each other, doing a dance step or two, then “Dad takes my hand and slows down./I understand, and we slow down./It’s a long, long walk./We have a quiet talk and smile.” Smalls treats the material without pretense, leaving it guileless and thus accessible to readers. Hays’s artwork is wistful and idyllic, just as this day is for one small boy. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-316-79899-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
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