Tallahassee Higgins

March 1, 1987
Tallahassee, named for the city in which she was born, says goodbye to her mother Liz, and Liz's latest boyfriend, at the airport. Talley, 12, is being sent to Maryland to stay with an aunt and uncle she's never met, while her freewheeling mom takes off for Hollywood to try her hand at a film career. Talley attempts to settle into her new life in the same house in which Liz grew up, but it isn't easy. Her aunt is strict and resentful, and Talley misses her mother; but she begins to piece together the story of Liz's life, with unsettling results. Hahn has woven Tallahassee's tale so skillfully that readers will accept the fact that Talley's mother is not going to come back for her. On a par with the author's highly acclaimed Daphne's Book, this story is marred only by the aunt's unrealistic harshness, and her sudden change of heart at the end of the book seems unfounded. Still, the story is memorable and heart-wrenching. (10-14)

July 1, 1987
Gr 5-8 -Twelve-year-old Tallahassee Higgins, raised by her free-spirited single mother Liz, has lived a life without cufews, study times, and well-balanced meals. Except for curiosity about her father's identity, it is a life Tally loves and a life she is about to lose. Liz is moving to California with her current boyfriend to chase a Hollywood acting dream, leaving Tally in Maryland with an uncle and aunt whom she has never met. Aunt Thelma is a critical strict woman who is determined to keep Tally from following in Liz' irresponsible footsteps. Tally isn't much more welcomed by other townspeoplesomething she can't understand until she learns who her father was and the truth about her parents' relationship. Torn between love and loyalty for her mother and the increasingly obvious realities of Liz' nature, Tally vacillates between anger and fantasy until a crisis forces her to confront and accept her life and loved ones as they are, not as she wishes they were. This novel is memorable for its realistic portrayal of human vulnerabilities and the careful balance of humor and heartache. Hahn writes about contemporary issues with all of the necessary elements of good fictionan interesting story with a beginning, middle, and end; sympathetic main characters who grow through experience; and a cast of well-rounded supporting characters. There are no weak links in this literary chain. Heide Piehler, Shorewood Public Library, Wis.