All-Season Edie

March 1, 2008
Wry, fast, and funny, 11-year-old Edies first-person, present-tense narrative is wicked about her obsessive rivalry with her cool older sister, Dexter. But along with all the bitchiness about what to wear and what to say at home, in the mall, and at school, there is alsofamilysorrow about Grandpa, who is struggling after a minor stroke. Edie wonders if learning witchcraft would help her cast a spell to save Grandpaas well asexert some control over Dexter. Set in a Vancouver suburb during the course of a year, this debut childrens book byan author best knownfor adult short stories gets the preteen voice perfectlyfromangerarising from family tensions to the worry about Grandpa and the trivia (Edie is much too cool to use a word like cool). The episodes reach a satisfying climax as summer comes round again, and things do change.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)