(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Stacy Innerst. Carolina Giddle shows up at the Blatchford Arms apartment house one Halloween and disappears on the next, in between dispensing candy and babysitting and stories to the children who live there. Carolina's tales, slightly scary and unobtrusively bibliotherapeutic, nicely punctuate the episodic novel. The Blatchford Arms' resident ghosts add to the fun, and a concluding party for all provides a satisfying sendoff.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2014

(2) YA Tamara, a sarcastic fifteen-year-old foster child, is forced to befriend the crotchety, cigar-smoking, nursing home resident Miss Barclay for a school project. The theme of an unappreciated child finding solace through friendship with an equally sidelined old person is one of the most persistent in children's literature; Huser (Stitches) doesn't do anything new with it, but his affecting portrait of two outsiders is involving.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2006

(1) 4-6 Here's a classic scapegoats-vs.-bullies story with low-key but unusual distinctions. Chantelle, who has a limp and a scarred face, and Travis, unselfconscious about his love for puppets and sewing, joined forces against bullying in fifth grade; in junior high the teasing gets uglier and, eventually, violent. The real story is the friendship between two outsiders and their marshaling of forces within themselves, each other, and their ragtaggle families.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2003