Quinn's life could be a bad country music song-Mama left town, Daddy lost his job, they're living in a swamp, and if it weren't for bad luck they'd have no luck at all. This story of family crisis in a dying Florida mining town suffers from two problems: it's an adult-driven plot in which the main character, 11-year-old Quinn, is a reactor rather than protagonist, and the book has a 1950s sensibility despite its contemporary setting. In the opening chapter, Quinn and her sister Rhonda Fay ride on the front porch of their house as it is moved out of town on a flatbed to the backwoods. When Pa-Daddy loses his job in the mines and the family is plunged into abject poverty, deprived of electricity and plumbing, the clan bemoans their bad fortune but nobody thinks of tracking down Quinn's deadbeat country-music singer mom. Amid the turmoil, Quinn's grandmother Nanny Jo talks soothingly of an imaginary place, Comfort Creek, where everything is calm, but Quinn cannot begin to imagine it amid the chaos of her own life. By the time a solution comes along, readers may find their patience with the travails of Nanny Jo, Pa-Daddy, Rhonda Fay and Quinn has worn as thin as the family heirloom quilt. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-7-Quinnella Ellerbee and her two sisters are unhappy about the changes in their family since their mother ran off to play with a bluegrass band. Times are hard in the company town of Panther Ridge, FL, especially since the mines have begun to close. The Ellerbees have had to move their tract home out to the swamps onto family land, making do without water or electricity. Quinn has had to change schools and give up her dream of becoming editor of the sixth-grade newspaper. Worse, their beloved Pa-Daddy is depressed and angry, unwilling to discuss his wife's departure or take up his mother's offer to help manage their fruit groves. But Quinn is smart and feisty, navigating the family difficulties with spirit and hope. When a development company comes on the scene and allegiances are threatened, she must find a way to reconcile her love for her father with her conscience-and to stand up for herself. The rural setting is well described, as is the economic and ecological impact of the mines. Quinn is likable and believable, and the family dynamics and secondary characters all ring true. While not fast paced, this is nevertheless a well-written, evocative, and insightful story with an emotionally satisfying conclusion.
Cyrisse Jaffee, formerly at Newton Public Schools, MA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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