From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9-- When Anna Peacock is 12, her brother Benedict is born. Ben is hydrocephalic, loving, and playful, but incapable of doing what most infants can do, and is easily susceptible to illness. Anna instantly loves her brother but soon realizes that her family life and friendships will be changed by his birth. In a wry first-person narrative, Anna talks about her life with Ben as well as her own self-image, her schoolwork, friendships, and her first job during the two years of Ben's life and the year after he dies. Anna's voice rings true throughout as she moves from awkwardness and judgmental statements to a more mature empathy with others and acceptance of herself. Discussion of handicaps, death and bereavement, and religious belief are carefully integrated into the story and emerge as natural concerns of Anna and her family rather than as issues to be addressed lightly. An additional strength of this book is the well-rounded portrayal of adult characters. Anna's mother, alternately distracted and affectionate; Mrs. Chapman, the generous and insightful shopkeeper who helps Anna to understand herself and her brother better; and a sympathetic minister all help Anna to grow up. Readers might want to compare this with McNair's Commander Coatrack Returns (Houghton, 1989), also about a relationship between an older sister and a handicapped child. --Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
