Stephen Richmond 2000-08-15
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If you'd ever lingered among the crags and eddies off the coast of Maine, there is much that is endearing and enduring in this brief novel, written for near-teens, but enjoyable for all ages. A young girl spends the summer with her grandmother, an artist on an island just off the Maine coast. At first, perplexed and hurt by her parents' decision to have her stay with the often taciturn, but always loving and engaging gran, young Elizabeth learns through a young neighbor boy the importance of seizing the day and not missing a moment of life, a lesson that becomes all the more poignant by the novel's melancholy, but hopeful ending. Paula Fox is the author of the Newbery-winning SLAVE DANCER and always writes with a clarity of spirit and sparklingly unforgettable characters. Further evidence that quick reads do not have to be toss-away pap.