A spirited African-American girl finds refuge from the chaos of her life in her summer job cleaning out the cluttered backyard of a singing teacher. Haley’s 13th birthday is marked by two events: finding a job and her mother’s nervous breakdown. Having left Haley and older brother Otis with a kitchen full of groceries, their mother commits herself and withdraws into her treatment almost completely. Haley manages to convince herself that she and Otis can get by; after all, both of them have summer jobs. But then Otis is arrested, his mysterious summer job being fencing stolen goods, and a reluctant Haley is caught up in the social-services net. Throughout, her yard job and the relationship she establishes with the singing teacher sustain her. Wyeth resists easy answers; even as neighbors and social workers come together in a potentially mawkish ending, the mother remains hospitalized. Haley is a delight: she’s tough, proud, and childishly enthusiastic about her new thesaurus (“GET LOST, FUNKY FOULNESS!” she shouts at a boy who bothers her in the park). Secondary characters are less well-developed—the singing teacher in particular is almost too good to be true—and plot developments are often predictable (the reader sees Otis’s trouble coming a mile off, for example). Haley’s straightforward, ingenuous narration carries the book, though, which distinguishes itself from others about urban families in distress by its convincing evocation of Haley’s bewilderment and anger at her mother’s depression, and her desperate desire to create some order in her life. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-679-88535-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 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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