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)