Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Abigail Iris The One and Only

Abigail Iris is NOT an only. This means that she shares a room, she can't get the Heelys that she wants, and her family exists on a budget. Her life is different than her 3 best friends who ALL happen to be onlies.

"The Onlies are the luckiest girls in all of the world in my opinion, because they are not on a budget. The Onlies have Heelys and beach cruisers and get to go to ballet camp..." p. 4 arc

Imagine how thrilled Abigail Iris is when one of her only friends, Genevieve, decides to take her on her family vacation for spring break. She is a bit worried that her parents might say no. Genevieve, who has lawyer parents, simply tells Abigail Iris to make her best case.

And that's exactly how Abigail Iris ends up riding in Genevieve's dad's SUV (aka the gas hog)all the way to San Francisco. All the way to a fancy hotel "sweet" with room service. Abigail Iris will have to miss her own family's annual camping trip, but all of these things that families with an Only get to do will be worth it, right?

Maybe.

In the spirit of Amber Brown and Clementine, Lisa Glatt an Suzanne Greenberg have created a fun and feisty character. Wanting what friends have is familiar to many a reader, and 3rd grader Abigail Iris has the perfect blend of pluck and wonder.

This is an illustrated novel and the drawings by Joy Allen add flavor to the story. There is, however, one illustration that doesn't fit the text. Abigail Iris is talking about making a phone call on an old fashioned dial phone. Unfortunately, the phone in the illustration has very obvious push buttons! If you work with kids you will know that this will not go unnoticed! Since this is the arc version, perhaps it will be changed in the final product.

That aside, this is a breezy read that will have younger realistic fiction fans passing it from hand to hand.

1 comment:

Fourstorymistake said...

Ooh! As a Clementine enthusiast, I will definitely pick this up!