Judy Scuppernong - Hardcover

Grade 5-9-- There are some books you keep tucked in a corner of your mind for certain special readers. Jean Little's Hey World Here I Am! (Harper, 1989) is such a book, and now, here is Judy Scuppernong. The two books have more in common than a vague specialness. Both have a distinct poetic style that enhances readers' insight and creates vivid impressions in swift, sure phrases. In contrast to Little's interweaving of first-person prose and poetry, Seabrooke's work is more a prose poem in short irregular verses that unwrap the story of Judy through the eyes of her friend Deanna. The place is a small town in Georgia; the time, one summer in the early '50s. The local girls are entranced with this exotic newcomer who's manner, hairstyle, and vocabulary are so different from theirs. They allow her to pull them in and dominate their summer with the mysteries she creates around herself. This is a delightful, delicate book, full of color and light and feelings of childhood quickly caught in strong, specific pictures, tastes, and smells. Lewin's illustrations enhance the text with small, square black-and-white drawings that resemble old amateur photographs, slightly off-center, so that readers catch a glimpse of a foot or half a face rather than a balanced portrait. They have just the right touch for this elusive story. --Sally T. Margolis, Park Ridge Public Library, IL
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A series of narrative portraits describes an unusual heroine who broadens the horizons of three friends in 1950s Georgia. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.