Here Today

From the Publisher

Kirkus 10/15/04
Sixth-grader Eleanor Roosevelt Dingman lives on the wrong side of the tracks in Spectacle, New York, in 1963. Bigotry abounds, and there are many acts of vandalism against the lone Jewish family and a pair of elderly women who live together. It's even worse at school, with Ellie and her best friend Holly the victims of endless bullying and hazing. But of most concern to Ellie is the future of her family. Her mother, Doris Day Dingman, is self-promoting, and totally self-absorbed. When she leaves to pursue her show-business dreams, Ellie is devastated, but understands that this outcome was inevitable. Martin has created a sensitive, sympathetic character in a setting rich with detail that place her firmly in the period. Occasional loose ends in the plot put this a step below her best work, but Martin's fans will recognize Ellie's emotional struggle and breathe a sigh of relief at the ending. (Fiction. 10-12)

Horn Book Magazine
(November 1, 2004;
(Intermediate, Middle School) In her small town of Spectacle in 1963, Ellie Dingman has two strikes against her. One, the Dingmans live on a street made up of what the town considers oddballs: "the ladies" (a presumably lesbian couple), a bohemian Jewish family, and an unmarried mother (whose daughter Holly is Ellie's best friend). And two, Ellie's cheaply glamorous, self-centered mother, "Doris Day" Dingman, is desperate to break into show business, heedless of the consequences to her family. Ellie hears the snickers and understands town dynamics better than Doris does, but without fuss she cooks dinner, cares for her younger siblings, and generally holds the family together. A series of "Bad Things" happens on her street (smashed mailboxes, a defaced tree, the poisoning of a cat); while at school, Ellie and Holly are targeted for humiliating physical abuse by their fellow sixth-graders. A story set in 1963 is bound to turn on the assassination of JFK, and this one is no exception. Inspired by Jackie Kennedy's abruptly changed life, Doris decides to make a new life for herself in New York City. The novel shows these painful events from Ellie's perspective, and because she is so resilient, we don't dwell on her troubles any more than Ellie does herself. With her fluidly accessible writing style, Martin evokes family and school life in the early sixties to perfection and creates a number of nuanced characters to surround her very ordinary yet compelling main character. Copyright 2004 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly
(October 4, 2004;

Martin, who explored with such insight the themes of ostracism and family conflict in Belle Teal and A Corner of the Universe, affectingly reexamines them in this third novel set in the 1960s. Eleanor ("Ellie") Roosevelt Dingman, a sixth-grade resident of Spectacle, N.Y., wrestles with her feelings about her family and neighborhood, which is filled with social misfits. ("Every time Ellie neared her street she was struck by two opposing feelings, and wasn't sure how her heart had room for both of them. She felt a tugging fondness for her small house and the four other houses on the street. And she felt a pang of embarrassment at being one of the people who lived on Witch Tree Lane.") Ellie's chief source of anxiety is her mother, Doris Day Dingman, who acts more like a beauty queen than a mother. Tension mounts as Doris becomes increasingly obsessed with becoming a famous actress and grows neglectful of her children. Around the time of Kennedy's assassination, she decides to leave her family to pursue her dream in New York City. Readers may find it unsettling that Ellie fails to make a significant connection with either parent. Her attitude toward her star-struck mother and remote father is as ambivalent at the end of the story as it is in the beginning. But Ellie shows fierce loyalty to her neighbors, especially her best friend,

Publishers Weekly

"Martin, who explored with such insight the themes of ostracism and family conflict in Belle Teal and A Corner of the Universe, affectingly reexamines them in this third novel set in the 1960s," PW said of this tale in which a girl's mother abandons the family to pursue a career as an actress. Ages 10-14. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

"Doris' presence was huge, as if she were an inflating balloon, taking up all the air and space." That sums up one of the most self-absorbed mothers to appear in children's literature. Modeling at the department store and being a local beauty queen whets her appetite for the big time, and Doris takes off for New York. Ellie, the eldest daughter, long ago assumed the responsible mother role in the family and she continues to care for the house and her younger brother and sister. Meanwhile, Ellie and her best friend endure cruel hazing at school. This is a bittersweet novel where the characters you root for emerge strong and able to face the future. Ellie is completely engaging. The father seemed underdrawn at first but as circumstances require it, he does what needs to be done. At just over 300 pages this is a real family saga with room for characters to grow and plots and subplots to develop. 2004, Scholastic, Ages 10 to 14.
—Beth Guldseth

From The Critics

In Here Today, Ann M. Martin addresses the problems of social ostracism, broken families, and one girl's struggle to define who she is. Eleanor Roosevelt Dingman is a sixth-grade girl living in the small town of Spectacle, New York. She practices the art of camouflage to escape the cruel taunts of the Sparrows, the popular clique of girls at school. Her mother, Doris Day Dingman, is the prettiest woman in all of Spectacle, the star of local plays, and the Bosetti Beauty. Everything begins to change when John F. Kennedy is assassinated. Doris decides that life is too short and leaves for New York City to pursue her dream of acting on Broadway. Ellie is left to care for her brother and sister, all the while struggling to discover who she is and why her mother could leave her behind. Here Today is an engrossing story about the strength inside of us all. This book would be appropriate for sixth- to eighth-graders and for anyone student who is struggling with divorce. 2004, Scholastic Press, 308 pp., Ages young adult.
—Karolinde Young

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8-A poignant story set in the 1960s that tells of a girl coming to accept her mother's inability to parent and to realize her own strength and separateness. Ellie Dingman, 11, has a beautiful mother who is always looking for her big break into show business. She has renamed herself Doris Day Dingman and insists that her children call her "Doris" rather than "Mom." Her immature delusions of grandeur in their small Hudson River Valley town are a source of deep embarrassment to Ellie, who is painfully aware of how cheap most people find Doris. She is often not home; much of the care of her younger siblings falls to Ellie, whose father works long hours. When mean girls target her best friend, Ellie and Holly try to be as inconspicuous as Doris is conspicuous. After President Kennedy is assassinated, the aspiring starlet realizes that life is short; she leaves the family, heading to New York City, where Ellie finds her months later, not living glamorously but working in a department store. Doris returns home only once, to gather all her things and move to Hollywood. Martin paints a well-articulated picture of the times, but it is her memorable child and adult characters that shine here. Like Hattie in A Corner of the Universe (Scholastic, 2002), Ellie is a perceptive and compassionate protagonist who ultimately comes into her own.-Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Sixth-grader Eleanor Roosevelt Dingman lives on the wrong side of the tracks in Spectacle, New York, in 1963. Bigotry abounds, and there are many acts of vandalism against the lone Jewish family and a pair of elderly women who live together. It's even worse at school, with Ellie and her best friend Holly the victims of endless bullying and hazing. But of most concern to Ellie is the future of her family. Her mother, Doris Day Dingman, is self-promoting, and totally self-absorbed. When she leaves to pursue her show-business dreams, Ellie is devastated, but understands that this outcome was inevitable. Martin has created a sensitive, sympathetic character in a setting rich with detail that place her firmly in the period. Occasional loose ends in the plot put this a step below her best work, but Martin's fans will recognize Ellie's emotional struggle and breathe a sigh of relief at the ending. (Fiction. 10-12)First printing of 50,000