Here Comes Heavenly No. 1: Pastabilities

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This lively launch title for a series of the same name introduces a punk Mary Poppins with spiky, purple hair, gold hoops through an eyebrow and nostril, tattoos on her arms and more than a few tricks up the short sleeves of her tight black T-shirt. This is Heavenly Litebody, who unexpectedly appears one morning and announces to Kit and her siblings that she is their new nanny. The second of five children in a Brady Bunch-style family, Kit (whose workaholic parents are away on business trips) can't figure out who hired Heavenly or how she circumvented the house's sophisticated alarm system. But this 14-year-old narrator soon discovers that these are just the first of many unexplained goings-on surrounding the funky, seemingly omniscient nanny who slyly manages to foil all attempts to disobey her. Heavenly also has the power to effect the positive (e.g., out of the blue, lovestruck Kit receives a phone call from the boy of her dreams; her parents suddenly agree to get a dog). Spiced with amusing repartee, Strasser's (the Help! I'm Trapped In... series) latest is light fare that goes down easily. Ages 11-14. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Gr 5-8-Heavenly Litebody is a purple-haired, pierced-and-tattooed nanny who appears, seemingly uninvited, at the home of a blended family of five children ranging in age from 2 to 16, whose antics have driven their previous caregivers packing. Heavenly may not look like Mary Poppins, but she employs a similar modus operandi and has her own brand of magic. Ten-year-old Robby admits to having placed an urgent ad with InstantNanny.com when their current nanny walked off the job while his parents are away on business, but he vehemently denies giving the access code for their security system to this Internet nanny. The children initially chafe under Heavenly's authoritarian regime, but, gradually, the imposition of order on their heretofore chaotic existence wins them over. Returning from their trip, the parents are surprised and appalled to find this apparition in their home and, over the objections of their children, are determined to replace her. Predictably, the new nanny mysteriously fails to arrive on the morning of her first day, the security system is once again on the fritz, and Heavenly is busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen. Readers may scoff at the premise that a family with two teens needs both a nanny and a housekeeper, but those who enjoyed Mary Poppins will laugh at her modern-day counterpart. A slight story, but entertaining nevertheless.-Sylvia V. Meisner, Allen Middle School, Greensboro, NC Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.