The Steps

Twelve-year-old Annabel didn't want to spend Christmas visiting her father and his new family in Sydney, Australia. But what happens is so momentous that it must be recounted in order to explain her expanding family, complete with its new members, "The Steps." Caitlin Greer's narration manages to perfectly express the preteen's brattiness and determination to steal her father back, along with her sadness and eventual reconciliation in this heartwarming tale of the ultimate blended family. The only problems arise in the attempt to portray the Australian accents of Annabel's new family members: It might not occur to listeners that since Annabel is telling the story, an imperfect accent is to be expected. E.J.F. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

March 10, 2003
Greer brings an adolescent enthusiasm and stuck-up attitude to spare to her skillful characterization of 12-year-old Annabel, a girl dealing with her ever-evolving, unconventional family. Though Annabel's parents never married each other, they have formed new families with new spouses, bringing a variety of step- and half-siblings into Annabel's once peaceful, only-child world. In an effort to get some blending under way, fashion-conscious Manhattanite Annabel is sent to Australia over Christmas break to visit her father and meet his "other" family. The results are prickly, funny and touching—a good source of material for Greer's multi-layered performance. Though she occasionally stumbles over the rhythms of Cohn's sassy phrasing, Greer does a commendable job tackling the Australian accent Annabel describes as mixing "a British Tinkerbell fairy with a chef from Louisiana." Middle-graders will likely flock to this production of an entertaining (and hip) tale. Simultaneous release with the Simon & Schuster hardcover. Ages 8-12.

Starred review from December 23, 2002
Cohn does for Sydney, Australia, what she did for Los Angeles and Manhattan in Gingerbread, while once again creating a funny and feisty narrator caught in the middle of a complicated family situation. Twelve-year-old Annabel calls her father Jack and her mother Angelina, and her lively voice keeps this story rolling along. When the seventh grader travels to Sydney for Christmas break to stay with Jack and his new family (aka "The Steps"), Annabel plans to "win my dad back" and escort him to New York. Her sadness translates into brattiness, especially toward Lucy, her stepsister who's also 12, but Annabel occasionally lets her guard down (such as when she realizes that Lucy misses her real dad, too). Of course, when Annabel finally asks her father to return, he explains why he cannot. Just then, Angelina phones to tell her she's getting married, creating a whole new set of Steps. Annabel's feelings will be easy for readers to connect with (e.g., "Jack... looked taller, broader, more confident. Like he had found his place in the world. Without me," she says of her transplanted dad), and her plans for winning Jack back are credibly unclear. The conclusion, in which all of Annabel's family and Steps appear in Sydney for a big reconciliation, may be a bit tidy, but Annabel's hyperbolic tone makes nearly anything seem plausible. Readers will wait with bated breath for Cohn's next novel. Ages 8-12.