Skinnybones and the Wrinkle Queen [Paperback]

Glen Huser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2008

At 15, Tamara has survived the foster care system through brains, will, and attitude. Now close to getting out, she dreams of being a model. First, though, there’s high school to get through, along with her teacher’s latest community project — volunteering at the local seniors home. Tamara doubts she can endure either the residents or the smells. Then she’s assigned to Jean Barclay — a cranky, wealthy, and extremely frail former schoolteacher. As the two warily size each other up, they realize each is the key to achieving their own very different goals. Miss Barclay wants to attend Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Seattle — a trip doctors insist she’s too weak to undertake. Tamara wants to enroll in modeling school in Vancouver — an expense she can’t begin to afford. Daringly, they plan the road trip of a lifetime — but can these two bossy, manipulative women keep from throttling each other before their goals are realized?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up—Tamara, a not-quite-15-year-old foster kid, describes with cynicism her deposit with yet another family. She's anorexic, she's a liar and truant, and she defines herself as a future model. Jean Barclay is a crotchety 89-year-old rest-home resident with a bum hip and a bourbon dependency. Brought together for a school project, each one realizes that the other has something she needs: Tamara can drive Jean to Seattle to see a series of beloved operas, and Jean can pay for a modeling course for Tamara in Vancouver. In alternating first-person narratives, they relate their plan to drive cross country-one to bring closure to a life, and the other to open a door. References to Dickens's Great Expectations and Wagner's Ring Cycle frame the text with some success, but Huser's prose is clunky, and his pacing is labored. The narrative voices are neither distinct from one another nor convincing. Most disappointing is the characters' lack of depth and growth. Both have serious problems (alcoholism, eating disorders) that are oddly made light of. Martha Brooks's True Confessions of a Heartless Girl (Farrar, 2003) and Patricia Reilly Giff's Pictures of Hollis Woods (Random, 2002) are more compelling explorations of the intersection of young and old at differing stages of life's journey.—Riva Pollard, The Winsor School Library, Boston
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Groundwood Books (February 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0888997337
• ISBN-13: 978-0888997333
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,692,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Skinnybones and the Wrinkle Queen, January 25, 2008

By 

Carlen Schmidt "nestea_lover2002" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Skinnybones and the Wrinkle Queen (Hardcover)

I picked this book up on a whim and in the end it was satisfying. I say in the end because the first half of the book is rather slow. It's mostly Jean and Tamara planning their trip. They don't actually leave for Seattle until almost three quarters of the way through. Teenagers might find the pace a little too slow and quit reading, which would spoil a great ending.

The suspense is held throughout the last act, with Tamara wondering when her foster family will figure out she's not really at Jean's house, but in Vancouver. Will Jean get thrown in prison for kidnapping? Do people her age even get thrown in jail?

The plot could have used some work, but the characters are what bring the story to life. Both women are opinionated and loud mouthed, and have their own flaws. Their personalities clashed, and they argue throughout most of the book. Still, it was interesting to see the differences in age, physical abilities, and personality, and yet they work together to achieve a common goal.

The chapters switch between Tamara and Jean's point of view, so the reader knows what one character is thinking about the other. I thought this was well done and I liked seeing the reactions of both characters.

Maybe I was disappointed because I was expecting another road trip novel (after reading Hit the Road by Caroline B. Cooney) when the story is really about two women coming together despite their differences. If you like a book with strong characters, read this one, just don't expect an overly exciting plot.