One Whole and Perfect Day (Hardcover)

by Judith Clarke (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Lily feels both love for and embarrassment about her eccentric family: a grandmother with an imaginary friend, an ax-brandishing grandfather, a mother who brings home patients from the elder-care facility where she works, and an estranged older brother, Lonnie, who still can't seem to get his life together. In a series of implausibly coincidental events (Lonnie's girlfriend's mother also happens to be the random stranger who teaches his grandfather a lesson about racism, for example), all of the family members, and many with whom they come into contact, reach new understanding about themselves and their lives, and all make both small and large changes for the better. In the end, Lily realizes her dream: one "whole and perfect day," in which her entire family comes together and finds happiness. The third-person narration alternates among the many characters' experiences, offering the reader an omniscient view of interconnecting lives in a down-to-earth, Australian setting. Heather Booth
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description
Sometimes Lily wishes she weren't so sensible. If she were less reliable, then perhaps she'd have more fun. As it is, her hardworking but flaky mom and her dreamy older brother count on her to run the house. She wishes things could be different, but how can she change her responsible ways? Perhaps, she thinks, she should fall in love!

Meanwhile, her scheming grandmother is planning a family party and, as is typical, Lily worries. Her fears are not entirely unfounded. Her grandfather has recently disowned her brother, and her brother has a new girlfriend who might not fit in. Her mother will probably bring the loony Mrs. Nightingale from the adult day care center where she works. And these are only the predictable complications. Lily is beginning to understand how easily unimaginable things can happen, too.

Back to the question of love, what is this new feeling Lily experiences when Daniel Steadman is near? Could it be the cure? --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Front Street (March 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932425950
• ISBN-13: 978-1932425956
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #299,337 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ending too pat, November 26, 2007

By	gaylelbf (Montgomery, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews

One Whole and Perfect Day is a pleasant story about a wish that Lily has that her dysfunctional family have "one whole and perfect day." Her grandmother is planning a party hoping to reconcile her grandmother and her brother. Her brother has a new Chinese girlfriend that no one has met. Her mother has promised not to bring home any more elderly people for the weekend, yet is tempted to break her promise. This story's main flaw is the happy ending that is too perfect and too coincidental to be real.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful book, August 11, 2008

By	Canadian Reader "Canadian Reader" (Canada) - See all my reviews

As another reviewer has noted, the ending of this book is not "realistic"...but that's perhaps one goal of the novel: Lily wants one whole and perfect day and she finally gets it in the end after a whole truckload of family dysfunction--a father who abandoned her even before she was born, an artsy-fartsy brother who can't stick to anything, a soft-hearted mother who relies on Lily to be the sensible one while she, a psychologist, rescues "lame-duck" elderly people whose families want a break from them, an apparently racist red-necked grandfather, and a grandmother with an imaginary friend! This is a delightful novel full of quirky characters and fine writing. All of the members of this extended family surprise each other in some way and have hidden aspects which briefly sparkle and shine forth. One does have to suspend one's disbelief to enjoy the novel perhaps, but if one does, the rewards are considerable. I think the book might be more appealing to older young adult females and women in general as it's character rather than plot-driven. This is one of the best written pieces of fiction I've read in some time. Reading it made me consider if I've ever had a whole and perfect day and what such a day would consist of for me.