Pish Posh

Publishers Weekly

Potter's (the Olivia Kidney books) latest fetchingly outlandish caper introduces the amusingly uppity Clara Frankofile, whose parents own the title Manhattan restaurant, catering to "glittery and fabulous" customers. Alas, not all of them make it through their haute cuisine meals. Each night 11-year-old Clara-wearing a simple black dress and dark glasses-sits at a table, eyeing the diners to determine who qualifies as a "Nobody" and must be banished from the fine eating establishment. When the young snob callously evicts an elderly doctor, a patron since Pish Posh's opening, his parting words distress the girl: "You have failed to notice a most peculiar and mysterious thing that is happening right under your nose." A brooding Clara returns to her penthouse apartment, where rooms have enticing themes (there's a State Fair Room, a Day at the Beach Room, a Haunted House Room, etc.), and retires to the Tree Climbing Room. From her treetop perch she spies a girl on the roof, hiding from police. This is Annabelle, who is an apprentice to her jewel thief father. As strong-willed and sharp-tongued as Clara, she adds an extra jolt of energy and humor to the story. The two team up to solve the mystery mentioned by the doctor. Readers will turn these pages quickly and, at the tale's satisfying end, may well hope that Clara, like Olivia Kidney, will have a follow-up adventure. Ages 9-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-Clara Frankofile is a pompous, snobbish 11-year-old who spends her evenings people-watching from a corner table in her parents' chic New York City restaurant, Pish Posh. She has the unique ability to determine which members of society's upper crust are no longer worthy to dine at the fashionable establishment. When Clara banishes a kindly but washed-up eye surgeon, he tells her that a peculiar mystery is unfolding right under her very nose. This revelation leads to Clara's improbable alliance with a cunning 12-year-old jewel thief, and together they embark on a perilous adventure that leads to the uncovering of a 200-year-old secret. Attempts at whimsy fail in this overly ambitious novel that tries to cover too much ground to achieve any real substance. Clara is insufferable from any perspective, and even with a seemingly endless cast of secondary characters, it is difficult to find anyone to applaud or admire. The story teems with frivolity, yet contains incongruous elements of cruelty and gruesomeness, resulting in a disjointed tale for which the target audience is unclear. Readers looking for a wonderful book of adventure and triumph of the downtrodden over the social elite should try SF Said's Varjak Paw (Random, 2003).-Debbie Lewis O'Donnell, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Monsieur Frankofile's upscale restaurant, Pish Posh, has a gimmick: his daughter, Clara (11), who heartlessly polices the success or failure of each diner, determining who can have a reservation. This does wonders for the restaurant's popularity and makes Clara a menacingly powerful and mysterious figure, until she becomes aware of a magical secret involving the least of her father's soup chefs. Behind Clara's discoveries and her public demeanor are larger revelations entwined in highly imaginative, stuffed-to-the-gills plot elements. Her initial cold narration focuses on her routine and her strange, over-the-top living conditions. Potter's tremendous textual power diminishes in effectiveness as Clara's inner life becomes more complex and she starts to interact with others, because easy solutions and quick fixes speed the storyline. This disconcerting turn in storytelling weakens the first fascination with the characters, as they flatten and disintegrate when lives and story are tidied up to accommodate a too-easy ending. (Fiction. 9-11)