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Just Ask Iris

Name: Just Ask Iris
Author: Lucy Frank
ISBN: 9780689844546

by Lucy Frank

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Overview

One wacky building. One amazing summer.

According to her mother, Iris is supposed to spend the summer safely indoors, keeping the apartment clean and learning to type. But when Iris follows a cat out onto the fire escape one day, she ends up meeting some of the amazing people who live in her building, including Yolanda, the Cat Lady, and the angry boy with the peashooter. So she comes up with two summer goals of her own: to earn some money, and to spend as much time outside the stuffy apartment as possible.

The money starts trickling in thanks to Iris's many neighbors and her errand-running business. But little does she know her job -- and her typing skills -- will lead her to play a major role not only in the future of her building, but also in the lives of forty-plus cats. And in the end, Iris gets something she didn't even know she was looking for....

In the summer before seventh grade, twelve-year-old Iris Diaz-Pinkowitz goes up and down the fire escape outside her new New York City apartment, becoming an integral part of the lives of her human and animal neighbors.

Synopsis

One wacky building. One amazing summer.

Publishers Weekly

"The spunky, enterprising and braless narrator is about to begin junior high and really needs to buy that bra soon," wrote PW. "Packed with action, lively dialogue and engaging personalities, this slice of urban life is thoroughly entertaining." Ages 10-14. (May) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

About the Author, Lucy Frank

Lucy Frank is the author of five novels for young people: Just Ask Iris; Oy, Joy!; Will You Be My Brussels Sprout?; I Am an Artichoke; and The Annoyance Bureau.

She splits her time between New York City and upstate New York, where she and her husband have raised one son, three cats, and four ducks. Read more about Lucy and her books at www.lucyfrank.com.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

There are many adjectives that could be used to describe Frank's (I Am an Artichoke) 12-year-old narrator, Iris Pinkowitz. Spunky, enterprising and braless (until she can earn enough money to buy the much-needed article of clothing) are just a few words that fit the bill. As the story opens, Iris has just moved from the Bronx to Manhattan with her Latina mother and older brother, Freddy; her father has stayed behind. She'll be starting a new junior high come fall; and she really needs to buy that bra soon. While she's supposed to be spending her summer learning to type in preparation for computer school, she instead climbs the fire escape outside her building in search of a particular cat. During her quest to find "Fluffy," Iris meets various neighbors and starts a business doing odd jobs for them. There's the Avon saleslady, Daisy, who needs Iris to baby-sit her grandchildren; Mr. Gordon, who wants his dog walked; the brutish Tattoo Man, whom Iris tries to avoid; Willy, a boy in a wheelchair with a chip on his shoulder; and the Cat Lady, an eccentric old woman on the top floor, who might be Fluffy's owner. Through hilarious and poignant moments, Iris adroitly charts her growing pains and her budding friendships. Packed with action, lively dialogue and engaging personalities, this slice of urban life is thoroughly entertaining. Ages 10-14. (Nov.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

KLIATT

To quote KLIATT's November 2001 review of the hardcover edition: It's the summer before seventh grade, and 12-year-old Iris, half-Latina and half-Jewish, has just moved to a new apartment in a rundown building in New York City, along with her mother and her older brother. Iris isn't allowed to go out anywhere without one of them along. She is supposed to stay at home and learn to type, but where is the fun in that? Also, men are beginning to gawk at Iris' chest—she needs to buy a bra, as the kindly woman who lives upstairs points out, but her hardworking Mami has no time or money to take Iris shopping. Iris becomes attached to a cat that enters the apartment through the fire escape, and she takes to sneaking up and down the fire escape herself to find out where the cat goes. In the process, she meets her neighbors, and she begins to do jobs for them (babysitting, running errands down to the bodega on the ground level) to make money to go buy a bra: her little business is called "Just Ask Iris." She befriends Will, a boy confined to a wheelchair who lives upstairs, and together they manage to conceal the upstairs Cat Lady's many cats from the health inspector and pressure the landlord into fixing the elevator, so that Will can get out and get to school. And Iris finally makes enough money to buy a bra, too. This is a funny, touching tale of city life by the talented author of Oy, Joy! and I Am an Artichoke, Will You Be My Brussels Sprout?. Iris is a spunky and believable heroine, and the multiethnic characters are skillfully portrayed, from Iris' loyal but easily embarrassed brother to the wacky Cat Lady to Will, who slowly emerges from his isolation and bitterness as he and Iris build afriendship and unite against the bureaucracy that threatens their building. A good choice for middle school and public libraries. KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for junior high school students. 2001, Simon & Schuster, Aladdin, 214p.,
— Paula Rohrlick

Children's Literature

Iris and her family recently moved into a tall, narrow apartment house. Her mother won't let her out of the building so she finds her adventures on the "inside." Iris makes her way up the fire escape and meets a ferocious dog, Brutus (whom she tames with hot dogs and dog biscuits), Will, only a year older but in a wheelchair due to a car accident, the supervisor of the building, two families, and the cat lady¾an eccentric with cats too numerous to count. Because the elevator is broken, Will is stuck in his room, the dog on the sixth floor only makes it to the third landing to pee, and others don't want to climb up and down the stairs to get supplies. Iris also needs to earn money so she can buy a bra. She opens a business doing odd jobs such as running errands, baby-sitting and dog walking. This story is humorous and full of human drama and caring. In the end, all of the tenants pull together to clean up the cat lady's room, disperse the cats, trick the landlady and convince her to fix the elevator just in time for Will to start school. 2001, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, $17.00. Ages 10 to 14. Reviewer: Janet L. Rose

VOYA

Twelve-year-old Iris's new home is a New York City apartment above a lively bodega. In her changing life, Iris's most pressing need is for a bra. People comment about her figure, but her mother sees only a little girl not an adolescent. When Iris takes matters into her own hands, she finds the building elevator broken, the stairs unusable, and explores via the fire escape. She meets many neighbors, from the unfriendly tattooed man to the woman with too many cats to count. Iris discovers that Will, who is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair, is a prisoner in his apartment because of the broken elevator and his neglectful father. Iris needs a way to earn money and finds one by running errands for the trapped apartment dwellers. As she passes out flyers that encourage people to "Just Ask Iris" to perform small chores and errands, she becomes even more involved with her neighbors. The noise and color of a crowded apartment building come alive for the reader. Iris is resourceful and believable as she faces problems. One could argue that issues are resolved too easily, as in the disposition of the cat lady's many animals, or that some characters verge on stereotypes, but the novel works. In this energetic story with engaging dialogue, chapters are just quirky enough to keep one reading. Part of the charm is that the reader knows that the ending will be okay. Frank is the author of, among other titles, Oy, Joy (DK Ink, 1999/VOYA October 1999). As with that title, this novel is written for those who enjoy a quick pace, upbeat attitude, and an assertive character. The distinctive and colorful cover resembles claymation and contributes to yet another success for Frank. VOYA CODES:4Q 4P M(Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses;Broad general YA appeal;Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8). 2001, Simon & Schuster, 224p, $17. Ages 11 to 14. Reviewer:Judy Sasges—VOYA, December 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 5)

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-Iris Diaz-Pinkowitz, her older brother, and their mother have recently moved to a new apartment in New York City. Two things are worrying the 12-year-old-she needs to start wearing a bra, but her mother is too busy working to take her shopping, and she needs to practice typing before beginning Computer School in the fall. One bright note in her life is the cat that has been visiting her every morning. One day, it doesn't show up. As she tries to find Fluffy, she hears about the Cat Lady who lives at the top of her building. Climbing up the fire escape (the hallways are too scary and the elevator is broken), she meets some of her new neighbors: 13-year-old Will Gladd, who is wheelchair-bound; Daisy Cuevas and her three grandchildren; elderly Luisa Serrano; and Yolanda Alvarez. And she finds Fluffy (along with dozens of other felines) with the Cat Lady. Iris starts "Just Ask Iris," an errand/dog-walking/baby-sitting service, and earns money to buy herself a bra. When the Cat Lady is threatened with eviction, Iris is able to get the apartment residents to pull together and stop the action. She is also instrumental in getting the long-out-of-service elevator repaired. Frank tells this appealing contemporary story with a light touch and plenty of humorous dialogue. She has created a likable, resourceful heroine who knows how to take care of business and how to be a good friend.-Terrie Dorio, Santa Monica Public Library, CA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

An upbeat and very funny urban tale, resolutely keeping the dark away even if that involves rather pat solutions. Twelve-year-old Iris Diaz Pinkowitz's Mami wants her to spend the summer in the apartment learning to type from a classic 1950s typing text. But Iris has other ideas: she wants to find out where the cat she's been feeding comes from-maybe the lady in 6B, who seems to have dozens-and she needs to get a bra, because the catcalls are becoming irritating. Using the fire-escape (pronounced by the super, in true New York style, fyescate) because the elevator hasn't worked in months and the halls are malodorous, Iris not only meets her neighbors (some real characters) but finds a way to raise money by doing errands and odd jobs for them. The Bible-quoting Cat Lady turns out to have a slim but iron grasp on reality; Will, the boy in the wheelchair, needs out from under his stressed and abusive Dad; and Iris and her brother are still smarting from the departure of Papi Pinkowitz. A Marx Brothers-style climax involving Iris's minimal typing skills but maximum resourcefulness in cat-placing keeps the Cat Lady in her apartment and gets the elevator repaired in time for Will to actually get to school. And yes, Iris gets her bra. (Fiction. 9-12)