Grade 5-9– A funny and poignant collection of poems, observations, and vignettes about life, friendship, family, identity, and love, as if from the journal of Kate, a young teenager who also springs to life in two other books by Little. It’s a difficult task to evoke an adolescent’s voice without writing painfully (for readers) like one. Fortunately, whenever the style is in danger of becoming too polished, an ingenuous phrase saves it; and whenever it leans too much to the adult perspective, a poem straight from eighth grade brings readers right back to the perceptions and feelings of a teenager, complete with old-hat ideas and platitudes written with the gusto of first-time discovery. Sometimes a deft touch of adult perspective adds needed insight to the anecdotes which, if left too authentic, would be muddied by emotional proximity. The situations ring true: Kate’s confusion on becoming her mother’s confidante, of not wanting to fight with her best friend but knowing it is too late to turn back, or the compassion felt for a dead woman, never lovable in life, who showed one secret moment of gentleness. Kate’s observations make the people around her come alive. Young readers will be surprised that they are not on their own emotional desert island, and aspiring writers will be encouraged by Kate’s example of journal keeping. The whimsical cartoon illustrations convey expressions and emotions cleverly in scratchy ink lines and washes. The format and illustrations might make the book appear to be for a slightly younger audience than intended, but booktalking should solve that problem. Young writers, looking for inspiration, will find Kate more immediately accessible than Julia Redfern, and fans of Constance Greene and Lois Lowry will gobble this up. –Annette Curtis Klause, Montgomery County Department of Public Libraries, Md.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.