School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-In this tender growing-up story from Australia, 12-year-old, "exasperating and potentially infamous" Cedar B. Hartley misses her older brother who ran away from home, wonders about the circumstances of her father's death 11 years ago, and nourishes a friendship with Kite, boy acrobat. Her practice with him results in accomplished acrobatic routines, and their friendship gently evolves into romance. With unique and fully realized supporting characters and a multiethnic, urban environment, this story vibrates with authenticity. At a crucial moment, Cedar thinks, "Sometimes life hits you at such a startling lightning kind of angle, that you get pushed off your normal viewing spot. You stop knowing how things are. Instead of what you know, there are the patterns that stars make; the sound of the night breathing; the small aching spot where your feet touch the earth.- You think that if there is an It, you and It are nearly touching." This unique, vulnerable, and hugely likable protagonist has the potential to push readers off their "normal viewing spots." Small, wonderfully quirky line drawings accompany this breezy yet serious novel, which includes an amusing glossary of Australian terms.-Susan Patron, Los Angeles Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Cedar B. Hartley, the 12-year-old narrator of Australian author Murray's promising if uneven debut, takes pride in belonging to a three-person "puddle" on her street: "A puddle isn't just what's left behind, although sometimes you may feel like it is. A puddle of people is full of rich deposits." So Cedar sticks with Caramella Zito, who is 11, extremely shy and chubby, and a "brilliant artist"; and with Ricci, a middle-aged Yugoslavian emigree who takes Valium and dotes on her dog. Cedar's widowed mom is busy with her job, and Cedar misses her 19-year-old brother, Barnaby, who has run away from boarding school (but sends postcards with quasi-poetic messages). Then Cedar meets Kite, a boy with "the voice of a river." The son of a circus performer, Kite starts teaching Cedar complicated acrobatic feats, and Cedar achieves flexibility and balance both on and off the gymnastics mat. The narrative voice wobbles, and Cedar can sound precocious in places and unconvincingly na?ve elsewhere. But at her best, Murray is capable of startling power, as in this description of an epiphany: "You stop knowing how things are. Instead of what you know, there are the patterns that stars make;... the small aching spot where your feet touch the earth... And you've never felt closer to it. You think that if there is an It, you and It are nearly touching." Ages 9-14. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
