FIREWORKS

Young and old alike will enjoy meeting the Gruccis, dubbed ``The First Family of Fireworks,'' and learning all the details involved in staging a fireworks show. Readers learn that the Gruccis love their business, which dates back to 1850. None of them, however, is able to explain exactly what makes the work more of a calling than a job, although certainly part of the answer can be found in the trademark fireworks they detonate at every show, to honor deceased family members. Actual preparations for a show require infinite care: Made by hand, the fireworks in a twenty- minute display may require two days' work; employees wear only cotton, to avoid sparks of static electricity. Many of the full- color photographs illustrate the fireworks detonated during a show, while the text defines all the jargon of the business: aerials, breaks, and reports. The book concludes with a brief history of fireworks. Some of the posed photos of the Gruccis have a stilted, silly quality, and Kuklin (Speaking Out, 1993, etc.) can become so gushing that the book reads like a public relations piece. The subject of fireworks, however, is so inherently exhilarating that readers will easily forgive her for getting a little carried away. (Nonfiction. 6-10)