From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9-- Vernon's father is too busy holding his large family together to notice the boy's academic failures, and his siblings are either too young or too preoccupied with their own affairs to help. So, Vernon finds himself hanging out on his Baltimore street corner, quietly desperate about school but powerless to resolve his problems. He and the other neighborhood boys like to taunt Maxine and Roland, an alcoholic and her retarded son. When Vernon supports the woman's argument with their grocer one day, he's embarrassed both by his previous behavior and her kind remarks about his dead mother. He blurts out his troubles and she introduces him to Miss Annie, a retired teacher, who tutors him but asks as repayment that he help Maxine and Roland. With Vernon's assistance, the boy is able to participate in the Special Olympics. When Maxine appears, drunk and abusive, it is the final straw for Roland's teacher and the welfare authorities, and he is removed from his mother's neglectful custody. Giving up his needy friend unlocks Vernon's unrealized anger at his mother for dying and leaving him, but he finds solace in his father, who has been there for him all along. Vernon's story is an interesting and involving one that reveals the enormous capacity of teens for both cruelty and compassion. Its truth reveals that each of us has felt the pain of exclusion and the liberation of acceptance and love. Like Virginia Euwer Wolff's Probably Still Nick Swansen (Holt, 1988) and Dennis Covington's Lizard (Delacorte, 1991), this book provides a much needed insight into the lives of adolescents with special needs. --Alice Casey Smith, Lakewood Public Library, NJ
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Grade 5-9-Crazy Lady by Jane Conly (HarperCollins, 1993) is a gem of a story about outsiders, loss, friendship and growth. It deserves the thoughtful and perceptive performance that Ed Begley, Jr. gives as he narrates the story of Vernon, Maxine, Ronald and their neighborhood. Begley's voice has just the right amount of wonder, insecurity, and pathos as he shares Vernon's observations, self-accusations, and occasional outrage. He changes his voice only slightly to portray the weary wisdom of Vernon's father, and the almost hysterical anxiety of Maxine when she is on a "binge," but he clearly differentiates between characters and enhances Conly's characterizations. The only jarring note is the music that occasionally appears to emphasize a mood, be it a carnival or an anticipated conflict. Begley's reading is so effective that the music appears more as a distraction than an enhancement. Readers who loved the story will be moved by this version and feel the pain of the characters perhaps even more intensely than before. Those who missed the book should be directed to this audiobook.
Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Washington, DC Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
