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Overview
Love is in the air for the Casson family! Four hilarious, endearing tales unfold as Rose, Indigo, Saffy, and Caddy each tell their intertwining stories. Rose begins by showing how she does special with her Valentine's card for Tom in New York. Not to be outdone, Indigo has his own surprise in store for the Valentine,s Day disco at school. For her part, Saffy has an unusual date in a very, very dark graveyard, and is haunted by a balloon that almost costs her her best friend.But it is Caddy who dares everything -- as she tells all about love at first sight when you have found the Real Thing. Unfortunately the Real Thing is not darling Michael. What is Rose going to do?
Synopsis
Love is in the air for the Casson family! Four hilarious, endearing tales unfold as Rose, Indigo, Saffy, and Caddy each tell their intertwining stories. Rose begins by showing how she does special with her Valentine's card for Tom in New York. Not to be outdone, Indigo has his own surprise in store for the Valentine,s Day disco at school. For her part, Saffy has an unusual date in a very, very dark graveyard, and is haunted by a balloon that almost costs her her best friend.
But it is Caddy who dares everything — as she tells all about love at first sight when you have found the Real Thing. Unfortunately the Real Thing is not darling Michael. What is Rose going to do?
Publishers Weekly
The four engaging Casson offspring in turn contribute their voices to this enchanting follow-up to Saffy's Angel, Indigo's Star and Permanent Rose. Because of its episodic format, the book is perhaps best suited to fans of the series. Outspoken Rose, prone to diverting digressions, muses on the fate of her escaped hamsters, shares her best friend's outrageous tall tales, and describes her brave journey to the backyard shed one stormy night. Earnest Indigo describes Rose's mass-production of Valentine cards and quotes Saffy's derisive comment that Valentines can't be special "if you send them off in dozens," to which Rose responds, "This is how I do special." When Indigo salvages the near-doomed Valentine's Day dance, he wryly notes, "This is how I do special." Down-to-earth Saffy introduces her entertainingly eccentric beau, Oscar, who takes Saffy and Rose for a ride in his Internet-purchased car, which resembles "an ancient, unhappy, giant toad." When they run out of gas, Oscar's older brother Alex rescues them. Enter flighty Caddy who, immediately smitten by Alex, decides that he "is probably the Real Thing at last." In many ways the soul of the Cassons, Rose fittingly gets the last word. In McKay's hands, even the things that the Cassons might deem wrong with their lives make for a narrative that is just right. Here, as in the past, the author "does special" quite splendidly. Ages 10-14. (June) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
The four engaging Casson offspring in turn contribute their voices to this enchanting follow-up to Saffy's Angel, Indigo's Star and Permanent Rose. Because of its episodic format, the book is perhaps best suited to fans of the series. Outspoken Rose, prone to diverting digressions, muses on the fate of her escaped hamsters, shares her best friend's outrageous tall tales, and describes her brave journey to the backyard shed one stormy night. Earnest Indigo describes Rose's mass-production of Valentine cards and quotes Saffy's derisive comment that Valentines can't be special "if you send them off in dozens," to which Rose responds, "This is how I do special." When Indigo salvages the near-doomed Valentine's Day dance, he wryly notes, "This is how I do special." Down-to-earth Saffy introduces her entertainingly eccentric beau, Oscar, who takes Saffy and Rose for a ride in his Internet-purchased car, which resembles "an ancient, unhappy, giant toad." When they run out of gas, Oscar's older brother Alex rescues them. Enter flighty Caddy who, immediately smitten by Alex, decides that he "is probably the Real Thing at last." In many ways the soul of the Cassons, Rose fittingly gets the last word. In McKay's hands, even the things that the Cassons might deem wrong with their lives make for a narrative that is just right. Here, as in the past, the author "does special" quite splendidly. Ages 10-14. (June) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
Rose Casson is quite a character. She likes to color pieces of cardboard black so she will have a "fold-up" sky; she worships her "grown up" sister, Caddy (she's off at university); her sister Saffron is really her cousin; her best friend loves to tell tall tales; her brother "looks dead" when he's sleeping (people wake him up a lot to make sure he's not); and she calls her artist mom "Mummy." Oh, and she has a "daddy" (an artist that her mummy calls "Darling Bill"), but he lives in London. He does, however, show up for the wedding. If this all sounds a bit over the top, you're right. Is this a story about love? Friendship? Or is it really about personal growth? It is hard to tell, because the story lines all get a bit jumbled. But this tale is so well written, engaging, and humorous, that readers will probably stick with it until the very last page. The big question is where does one find a friend like Rose? It is not every girl who is willing to dust her entire body in talc and cocoa powders "just to see what it would be like to be all one color." 2006, Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, Ages 10 to 14.—Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt