ANNOTATION

When eight-year-old Cora is sent to stay next door with the seemingly pleasant woman called Aunt Sunday, she is tormented by Aunt Sunday's mean-spirited, deceitful daughter, but finds an ally in Aunt Sunday's elderly mother.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

While her parents are away on a business trip, Cora goes to stay with the next-door neighbors and is tormented by mean-spirited and deceitful Angelica, but she receives unexpected support from Angelica's elderly grandmother.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

A victim of adult convenience, eight-year-old Cora is temporarily boarded with a very unpleasant girl named Angelica and her equally disagreeable mother, ``Aunt Sunday.'' The only saving grace is the bond she forms with another unhappy boarder, Sunday's invalid mother, Ma Potter. But when Angelica frames Cora as a diamond thief, even Ma Potter's brand of no-nonsense grandmothering is scant consolation. Cora's ultimate solution to her problem is to run away, but, through the wisdom of Ma Potter, she (and the reader) receive a tool to put painful and confusing experiences in perspective. Ma Potter, meanwhile, gaining some overdue insight into her own life, offers the priceless and humorous comfort of experience to Cora by saying at a particularly uncomfortable moment, ``Cheer up. They can't shoot us.'' Well-rounded, recognizably vulnerable adult characters play well against Cora's very childlike dilemma. Bawden has once again struck the perfect balance between high-spirited storytelling and thoughtful content. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-- ``Humbug'' is the magic word that Ma Potter, Angelica's grandmother, gives nine-year-old Cora to help her through the time she must spend at Angelica's home while her parents are away and her grandmother is in the hospital. Cora is very skeptical about the arrangment; she senses that Angelica is horrible and ``most of the time she was right about people.'' Indeed, Angelica--Angel for short--is one of the nastiest nine-year-olds ever to grace a children's book. It takes Cora's sister, brother, and grandfather longer to catch on, but when Cora and Ma Potter team up, events move rapidly toward a satisfying conclusion. Even minor characters are well drawn by Bawden, who uses language skillfully to set the scene, expose ``humbuggery,'' and capture all the humor and humanity of the situation. --Amy Kellman, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-Not fooled by her young hostess's seemingly pious behavior, Cora is framed by the malicious child, but finds an ally in the girl's wise grandmother. Cora is a character with conviction, gumption, and spirit, while Angel is truly a devil. (Oct., 1992)

BookList - Stephanie Zvirin

Humbug. Grandma Potter says it's about using untruths to manipulate, to be polite and proper, and tells Cora to "think of it as a magic word." Eight-year-old Cora likes the idea because she needs all the help she can get. First, there was her parents' trip to Japan, with Cora, Alice, and William left behind. Then, there was Grandma's hospitalization, which resulted in Cora's staying with Aunt Sunday, Ma Potter (Sunday's mother), and Angelica (Sunday's eight-year-old daughter)--a nasty surprise. Nastier still was Angelica herself, sugar-sweet on the outside but cruel and manipulative in a way that Cora, though toughened from being the youngest in her family, can't understand. Cora is stunned by Angelica's venomous acts and feels outraged and betrayed when others can't see through the lies. Grandpa thinks Cora's stolen Sunday's diamond; Ma Potter knows the truth but is too afraid to tell. People Cora trusted are found wanting. Cora feels on firmer ground when sneaky plots are set aside in favor of an old-fashioned hair-pulling match that leads to a horrible, exhilarating moment when Cora thinks her nemesis is dead. Characters are beautifully and intricately drawn--we watch Ma Potter's face crumple, feel the malice in Angelica's eyes, and see naive Cora struggling to accept the fact that wickedness isn't just the stuff of fairy tales. Bawden deals forthrightly with harsh truths; she acknowledges that children can hate, and she shatters a host of childhood notions about grown-ups, honesty, and fairness. Along with that, she delivers a riveting plot and a totally credible Cora, an engaging child/heroine who ultimately learns to trust herself and accept the people she loves for the people they are.