Hilary McKay is the award-winning author of The Time of Green Magic (which received five starred reviews), The Skylarks' War (which was a Boston Globe Best Book and received three starred reviews), Binny Bewitched (which was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year and received two starred reviews), Binny in Secret (which received three starred reviews), Binny for Short (which received four starred reviews), and six novels about the Casson family: Saffy's Angel, Indigo's Star, Permanent Rose, Caddy Ever After, Forever Rose, and Caddy's World. She is also the author of The Swallows' Flight, Rosa by Starlight, and Wishing for Tomorrow, the sequel to Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess. Hilary lives with her family in Derbyshire, England. Visit her at HilaryMcKay.co.uk.
The very funny sequel to The Exiles has four often devilish British sisters devising creative ways to sponsor an African boy's education. Ages 8-12. (June)
Gr 5-7-A novel with a single, simple conflict. The plot centers around Ruth, 13, who, impulsively and without her parents' knowledge, pledges 10 pounds a month to support a young boy's schooling in Africa. Desperate to raise the promised money, she enlists the help of her three younger sisters, and, for a year, they secretly work to earn, borrow, or steal the funds. This is the heart of the novel, surrounded by a few amusing incidents along the way. Neighbors, Big Grandma, the girls' parents, an elderly couple, and even the vicar become entangled in the efforts to acquire cash. In the end, their grandmother discovers their secret, and all is resolved happily-an elderly neighbor has died and left a trust fund for the boy and money for the girls to visit Africa. There just is no meat to this story. There is little that distinguishes the Conroy sisters from one another, as none of them are developed as individuals. Also, characterizations of the minor characters are clichéd. To add to the confusion, the meaning of the title will not be clear to those who haven't read The Exiles (McElderry, 1992), and some readers may have difficulty with the British terminology and colloquialisms.-Lucinda Lockwood, Thomas Haney Secondary School, Maple Ridge, BC
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