All in the Blue Unclouded Weather

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-- An episodic tale about four distinctly individual sisters growing up. ``Oh, it was hateful to be poor!'' mourns Vivienne as she compares her much-worn, hand-me-down dress to shy Nancy Tuckett's pink-ruffled gingham. Since Mum neglects housework in favor of the greater rewards of writing obituary poems for the newspaper and Dad's either prospecting or embarrassing his daughters with his peculiar inventions, the girls have developed strong survival skills and a frank view of their Australian world in the late 1940s. With their budding-actress neighbor to add zest and confusion, each girl learns a bit more about herself, appearances, and what matters in even the least ordinary family. Klein again shows that she's a master of dialogue, sibling dynamics, and youthful characters at once unique and undeniably creatures of their age group. Fresh, humorous, offbeat, with a bit of nostalgia for the era of film stars and red, red lipsticks.-- Sara Miller, Rye County Day School, NY