(4) YA Deserted by their mother, sixteen-year-old Sissy and her brother, Boy, struggle through many living situations in this free verse novel. Though the plot is well trodden, Sissy's transformation into an artist is both plausible and touching. As with many novels in verse, the poems here do not stand independently, but in context they effectively convey Sissy's mental state.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke

(4) YA Dirt-poor in Arkansas, Pert Lexie hopes to find a way up and out of her dead-end life, away from the uncle who threatens her. Leaving becomes more complicated when Pert's brother, believing he's murdered their uncle, falls under the spell of a snake-handling revivalist. Some characters are stereotyped and the plot is a little opaque, but the novel evokes both poverty's hopelessness and the family ties needed to hold on to hope.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Angela Barrett. Two years in the childhood of Frankenstein author Shelley are covered in this longish picture story: with her cousins, Mary walks the Scottish shores and woods and tells ghost stories around the fire, inspiring her later creation. An overwrought style ("Alone now and empty as the horizon, Mary wept") detracts from the dark, moody, gothic watercolors and fresh, intriguing story. Bib.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Kathryn Brown. Raney and her pokey horse Thunder have never won a ribbon at the Washita County Fair, but not from lack of trying. This year spunky Raney is sure she's "got it in the bag and sewed shut" with her Sooner Biscuits--until a tornado stirs things up. The entertaining pace and folksy dialogue make this a natural choice for reading aloud. Energetic illustrations extend the tongue-in-cheek humor and are as clever as the homespun tale.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2000