In the Country of Queens

August 1, 2017

Gr 4-6-In 1961 Queens, NY, 11-year-old Shirley Alice Burns lives with her overbearing, overprotective mother, Anna, and her affectionate, resourceful Russian grandmother. Shirley's shy and dutiful demeanor begins to change when she discovers that the father she hasn't seen in six years is deceased and her family didn't tell her. Hurt that she wasn't told the truth, disappointed that her cousin's vacations don't include her, unhappy with her mother's demand that she take ballet lessons, and upset over her teacher's false accusation of plagiarism on her Peace Corps essay, Shirley realizes that she must "stand up on her own two feet." Her courage is fueled by the friendship of a mouse and her literary role model, Pippi Longstocking. Shirley's angst is tempered by compassionate, fun-loving cousin Phillie; her classmate Maury; an array of apartment neighbor personalities; and her passion for handball and the French language. Characters are distinct, diverse, and three-dimensional. Extended family relationships are strong. Descriptions and dialogue are vivid, realistic, and echo the 1960s. Though the enigmatic estrangement and death of Shirley's beloved father, the catalyst for her finding her voice, is insufficiently explained, her coming-of-age story is well-paced and will tug at readers' heartstrings. Although quaint references to a Lionel train, an Aurora Road Race set, and a mouse surrogate for her father may seem juvenile to contemporary readers, Shirley embodies a candid and appealing mix of emerging adolescent concerns about her appearance, boys, doing well in school, earning an allowance, participating in clubs and sports, and, most of all, establishing her own identity. VERDICT A fine addition, especially where there is regional interest and where historical fiction is in demand.-Gerry Larson, formerly at Durham School of the Arts, NC

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 15, 2017
In Queens during the summer of 1961, a shy 11-year-old white girl finds her voice and learns to use it.Word-loving aspiring writer Shirley Alice Burns lives with her overprotective single mother and her gentle Russian-immigrant grandmother. Not one to rock the boat, Shirley always goes along with the crowd. But when she finds out the father she thought simply long absent is really deceased, she vows to confront her mother about it. Also on Shirley's list of things to do once her "courage comes in": stand up for herself when her teacher accuses her of plagiarism, tell her mother she's too old for summer camp and that she wants to go to Lake Winnipesaukee (affectionately nicknamed "Lake Winni Pee") with their large extended family instead, as well as telling her that she hates ballet and following her mother's restrictive Safe-at-Home Doctrine. As revealed in Best's precise, evocative third-person narrative, Shirley taps into the courage of her hero Pippi Longstocking and projects memories of her father onto a dead mouse she hides in the freezer. Shirley's gradual change and just the right amount of lost innocence are punctuated by summer adventures with cousin Phillie; her disdain for her mother's gassy boyfriend; her strong, loving bond with her grandmother; and her looming first kiss, courtesy of spin the bottle. This Queens neighborhood, with its menagerie of carefully drawn secondary characters, appears to be an all-white one. Picture-book author Best's first middle-grade novel sparkles and pops like a Fourth of July firecracker. (Historical fiction. 8-12)

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September 25, 2017
Picture book author Best (If I Could Drive, Mama) sets her first novel in Queens, N.Y., in 1961, where Shirley Burns is finishing sixth grade and struggling to speak up for herself. Shirley desperately wants to join her cousins on their family’s annual summer trip to Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, but she can’t find the courage to ask her mother. But things begin to shift when Shirley learns that the father she had been told was simply absent is actually dead, something her mother has lied to her about. After Shirley finds a dead mouse, she keeps it in the freezer and uses it to start to process her loss (“Maybe being dead isn’t so terrible, Shirley thought, studying the mouse. He looked as calm as if he were listening to music”). Talking to the mouse helps Shirley stand up to both her mother and a teacher who believes she plagiarized an essay. The Benson & Hedges cigarettes Shirley’s mother smokes, the Frank Sinatra they listen to, and other period details bring Shirley’s world to life. Shirley is an honest and relatable narrator in this languid slice-of-life story. Ages 10–12.

November 1, 2017
Grades 4-6 Living in 1961 Queens with her Russian grandmother and her forceful mother, Anna, 11-year-old Shirley regrets her inability to speak up. She can't tell Anna that she hates ballet lessons; inform her teacher that no, she didn't plagiarize her essay; or divulge her great wish to join her relatives on their trip to Lake Winnipesaukee. But with the inspiration of literary heroine Pippi Longstocking and (very oddly) a dead mouse, she gathers her courage to do all this, as well as reveal she's learned the secret her family has tried to keep from herher father isn't simply gone, but dead. Best, who's well-known for her picture books, uses the novel format to tell an engaging story filled with events that then sometimes get short shrift when they reach resolution. For instance, Anna's disgusting boyfriend, fully introduced, is quickly dispatched chapters later with the news he has a wife and children. Best does do a good job of capturing a time and place and showing readers how confidence buildsShirley's and perhaps their own.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)