Tricks and Treats

September 15, 1994
Gr. 2-3. There are Halloween fun and games in Delton's latest story about the Pee Wee Scouts, but there's also a serious theme woven in with the slapstick and ghosts. Molly enjoys planning a costume with her best friend and making up a scary story. Then she finds she's "in" a scary story: her dad loses his job. Will she be poor? Will her friends pity her? Will her family need to get groceries from the food bank? Without minimizing the terror of the middle-class child's sudden confrontation with poverty, Delton keeps the main focus on comedy. In a droll episode, Molly tries to get her dad all kinds of jobs: as a nurse (sure he's "qualified," whatever that means), as a veterinarian (he likes dogs), as a lawyer (he always obeys the law; he crosses the street at the corner). Some of Molly's classmates are stereotypes--the sissy mama's boy, the irritating loudmouth--and readers who expect a light holiday escape story may not appreciate finding a realistic problem. But many kids will like the way this chapter book combines friendship and scary fun with a fear that's very close to home. ((Reviewed September 15, 1994))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1994, American Library Association.)