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Overview
Rose knows that nothing stays the same forever.
Still, it's hard to watch her sisters and brother growing up and moving so far ahead of her. Caddy is back, but she's not living at home. And worse — she's broken up with Darling Michael. Saffy and Indigo are so busy, they are seldom home. With her father in London and her mother painting in the shed, Rose is often alone in the house.
Maybe that's why she agrees to her new friend Molly's crazy scheme. At least it seems crazy when Rose finds herself locked in the zoo at night with a roaring tiger. Maybe she should have been paying more attention to what Molly was saying. But on that spooky night, Rose finds out a secret that just might change everything — and help bring her family and friends together and new life to their old house.
Hilary McKay infuses her charming characters with much love and laughter in this final visit with the delightfully daffy Casson family.
Synopsis
Rose knows that nothing stays the same forever.
Still, it's hard to watch her sisters and brother growing up and moving so far ahead of her. Caddy is back, but she's not living at home. And worse -- she's broken up with Darling Michael. Saffy and Indigo are so busy, they are seldom home. With her father in London and her mother painting in the shed, Rose is often alone in the house.
Maybe that's why she agrees to her new friend Molly's crazy scheme. At least it seems crazy when Rose finds herself locked in the zoo at night with a roaring tiger. Maybe she should have been paying more attention to what Molly was saying. But on that spooky night, Rose finds out a secret that just might change everything -- and help bring her family and friends together and new life to their old house.
Hilary McKay infuses her charming characters with much love and laughter in this final visit with the delightfully daffy Casson family.
Publishers Weekly
The fifth—and, sadly, final—volume about the Casson family, Brits like the author, is the best of them all, a jewel of a domestic comedy. Rose, the youngest, is now 11 and occupies an as yet uncharted zone between daft and brilliant. Writing in a diary (she cheerfully ignores the printed dates and supplies her own), she copes with her separated but still doting parents, her talented siblings and the assorted people they collect (where is Caddy, the oldest sister, when she periodically phones Rose? And what is to be done with David, her brother's lummox of a friend who has been kicked out by his mother and has no place to put his drum set?). Then there's Rose's friend Molly, with her nutty plan to hide out overnight at the zoo in the arctic foxes' shelter, a scheme Rose will go along with only because she's certain it will fail. McKay is an expert at twinning the point of view: she lets readers see Rose's logic, but her timing calls forth every bit of the situational humor. The ending ties all the ends together—some may say too neatly, but fans will find the wrapup utterly satisfying. Ages 10—14. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Editorials
Publishers Weekly
The fifth—and, sadly, final—volume about the Casson family, Brits like the author, is the best of them all, a jewel of a domestic comedy. Rose, the youngest, is now 11 and occupies an as yet uncharted zone between daft and brilliant. Writing in a diary (she cheerfully ignores the printed dates and supplies her own), she copes with her separated but still doting parents, her talented siblings and the assorted people they collect (where is Caddy, the oldest sister, when she periodically phones Rose? And what is to be done with David, her brother's lummox of a friend who has been kicked out by his mother and has no place to put his drum set?). Then there's Rose's friend Molly, with her nutty plan to hide out overnight at the zoo in the arctic foxes' shelter, a scheme Rose will go along with only because she's certain it will fail. McKay is an expert at twinning the point of view: she lets readers see Rose's logic, but her timing calls forth every bit of the situational humor. The ending ties all the ends together—some may say too neatly, but fans will find the wrapup utterly satisfying. Ages 10—14. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Children's Literature -
Rose Casson and her unconventional family are back in McKay's fifth novel chronicling the family's adventures. This book finds Rose a bit lonely for her family. Her father is in London, her mom is spending all her time in the shed (trying to get over a cold and finish her commissioned paintings), one sister has gone off and will not tell the family where she went, and the rest of her siblings are busy living their lives. To make matters worse, Rose and her friends are trapped at school with an awful teacher who cancels Christmas. Rose solves the mystery of her sister's whereabouts when she joins her friend Molly in a crazy plot to spend the night at the zoo. All the loose ends start to come together for Rose and her family following the zoo escapade, and the reader is left with a satisfying ending to the Casson family chronicles. Rose's voice as the narrator fills this book with humor and authenticity, making it a satisfying read. Reviewer: Caroline B. HopenwasserSchool Library Journal
Gr 5-7- This final installment in the Casson family saga finds 11-year-old Rose feeling deserted and confused. Saffy and Indigo are busy with their teenage pursuits, Caddy has been missing for nearly a year since her almost-wedding to not-Michael in Caddy Ever After (S & S, 2006), Mummy is spending all her time in her artist's shed to avoid spreading germs from a bad case of bronchitis, and Daddy Bill is still living in London, finding the peace and quiet he can't get at home. To make matters worse, Rose does not like Mr. Spencer, "the new irritated teacher of class 6." She is having a difficult time with reading, is deeply disappointed when no one has time to shop for a Christmas tree, and is affronted by the ubiquitous presence of Indigo's displaced friend, David, and his problematic drum set. However, her spunky friend Kiran is unfailingly loyal and supportive, and, when their schoolmate Molly proposes an extension of their class trip to the zoo into a secret overnight stay, the two agree to go along. What results from this mischievous, if dangerous, escapade are some surprising resolutions to Rose's disenchantment with school and home, and even a new configuration of the family. McKay is at the top of her game with this poignant, hilarious account, narrated in diary form by irrepressible, artistic Rose. Readers will empathize with her frustrations, secretly admire her and Kiran's sassiness, and cheer as everything falls nicely, and unexpectedly, into place.-Marie Orlando, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY