SNOW

Shulevitz (The Secret Room, 1993, etc.) implies that there is much to be said for youthful hope amid all the dour nay-saying from adults. Here, early flakes hold out the promise to a boy and his dog of the season's first snowfall, and prompt elders to pooh-pooh any chance of accumulation. As if by force of will, aided and abetted by the mysteries of nature—and despite radio and TV forecasts to the contrary—the flakes keep coming, swirling, dusting, covering. Finally, the town is draped in an encompassing cloak of snow; a number of storybook characters (that had been images on the facade of a children's bookstore) break into a winter dance with the young boy, giving the hook a pleasantly fantastical turn. The small town European setting is the sort that Shulevitz does best: evocative, timeless, and as irresistible as the first snow.