David woke up to find a note on his bed. It said: "Meet me at my place. Now!" A minute later he was on his bike, wondering. Is this another trick? But stil pedalling. David and Primrose are like mismatched eggs, with painful pasts and fragile secrets. Will their strange friendship help them both to cope with what is missing in their lives?

Another thought-provoking, quirky and well written offering from the highly original Jerry Spinelli. Nine year old David lives with his grandmother after his mother was killed in a tragic accident. With his father working away, David struggles to form a new bond with his grandmother now that she is his primary carer.

Attempting to come to terms with his mother's death, David finds what he thinks is a dead body while on an Easter Egg hunt. Enchanted, David spills out his feelings to the mysterious girl, but is later horrified to discover that she is, in fact, alive and kicking. Primrose is very much alive and kicking - kicking against her mother, against her peers and sociey in general.

Living in a van outside her mother's house, thirteen year old Primrose lives a self-sufficient existence, prowling through other people's garbage and selling on her finds. Primrose's mother calls herself Madam Dufee and tells fortunes - always the same fortune - "you will live a long and happy life." While David and Primrose do not consider themselves to be living happy lives, nonetheless they are living: long, exciting nights filled with Mango Madness, squabbles, moonlight expeditions and visits to Refrigerator John. Although they have many ups and downs,through their mutual adoption of a sibling-type relationship, David and Primrose are helping each other, whether they realise it, or want to, or not.

A lovely book, exploring the interesting dynamics of a relationship between two troubled children. The difference in their ages adds an extra depth and unusual spin. If this book doesn't move you in some way, then you must be made of stone!

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2008-06-22