From Publishers Weekly
Flower power?and the power of friendship?prevail in this quaint, environmentally friendly tale set in Australia. Narrator Jess and her friend Sophie, along with three of their younger siblings, spend much of their school holiday peering through hedges and thereby learning about their neighbors' lifestyles. The childless, double-income and multi-car Pyles, for example, are "into assets"; they pose a sharp contrast to the aging, reclusive Featherby sisters, Alice and Violet, who live in a ramshackle house on potentially prime but grievously neglected property ("Everyone in the neighborhood said [it] was a Disgrace and an Eyesore"). Eventually the children befriend the Featherbys and begin to restore their garden to its former glory. Their efforts help protect the sisters from a money-hungry nephew and the parking-lot-needy Pyles, and guarantee the town a beautiful and historically significant park. Steele, an Australian writer making her U.S. debut, argues somewhat too obviously for preservation over development and her characters are schematic rather than lifelike, but her warmhearted tone may thaw the skeptically minded. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gr. 4^-6. Put in charge of their younger siblings during the school vacation, sixth-graders Jess and Vicky take the opportunity to explore the overgrown grounds of Featherbys, the only old house in their trim, suburban neighborhood. Soon they have befriended Alice and Violet, the elderly sisters who live at Featherbys. The children mobilize their families to help them in reclaiming the beauty of the old garden and assist Alice and Violet in warding off the interference of a meddlesome, menacing relative with the incomparable name of Mervyn Bottomley. The strong character development, with even adults acting and sounding true to life, will draw readers into this good, old-fashioned story. The Australian setting brings some interesting details as well as a feeling of kinship with kids down under. Jess tells the story, but her reflections are sidelights on the conversations and actions that will keep the pages turning throughout this rewarding novel.
Carolyn Phelan
