From Publishers Weekly
Like its title character, this debut novel has a secret identity: while it appears too adorable at first, and too typical, it's unexpectedly poignant and packs an emotional punch despite the cheery veneer. Birdie Lee is a divorced, mild-mannered single mother of two who's proud of how she's raised her kids. She's a grocery store cashier with an obnoxious ex and an extensive knowledge of cleaning products, who's looked down upon by the town's über-parents, Patty and Lex Osborne, beloved producers of patriotic snack foods. But when Birdie passes out after mixing incompatible cleaning solvents, she develops a scrubby-yet-soft right palm and the uncontrollable urge and ability to clean filthy bathrooms in a single swipe. Suddenly Super Mom, Birdie realizes that not only can she prevent underage drinking and improper car-seat use but that the Osbornes are plotting to control children subliminally through marketing and use them as guinea pigs. The cuteness cup runneth over now and then, but at the heart of this story is a narrative about a lonely, wronged woman who just wants to do right by her children and stand up to an uncontrollable world. Hauser slips in soliloquies on motherhood and womanhood that, though brief, are moving, showing us Birdie Lee's heart and in that, the wishes and dreams of super moms everywhere.
(Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Ever since her divorce, Birdie Lee has been trying to do it all. She is a grocery-store cashier who does her best to be a good mom to teenagers Martin, a lovable geek, and Kelly, who finds her mother terribly embarrassing. One morning, after the kids have gone to school, Birdie goes after a stubborn stain in the bathroom. An ill-advised mixture of all the cleaning products in the house knocks her out cold; on waking, Birdie possesses miraculous cleaning powers and an uncanny ability to anticipate when children are in danger. After her initial shock, Birdie revels in her newfound power and sets about protecting kids everywhere. Meanwhile, she realizes that the company behind the popular Patriot Pops cereal, New Cosmos Industries, run by self-made millionaires Lex and Patty Osborne, is not quite the innocent, all-American, family-values operation it purports to be. Super Mom has found her archnemesis. This silly but fun twist on the superhero tale comes packaged with a socially responsible message about consumerism, but it doesn't get in the way of the high jinks.
Beth LeistensniderCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
