Amen McBee, the youngest of five sisters, gobbles up words the way other children gobble up sweets. She couldnA't be more different from her elder twin sisters Arabella and AnnabellaA-called the Bellas. The mischievous Bellas constantly frighten Amen with stories of Mr. TominskiA-the old recluse who lives in the woods nearby and mysteriously tends to a flock of doves. The Bellas insist that Mr. Tominski is a dangerous bogeyman who eats children whole, but Papa vows that the A"keeper of the dovesA" wouldnA't hurt a soul. When tragedy strikes the family, Amen must decide once and for all who is right.
Betsy Byars is the acclaimed author of The Summer of the Swans and has written dozens of other popular novels, including the Herculeah Jones mysteries.
In a boxed review, PW called this a "jewel-like novel. In tightly constructed scenes, the author slowly and fluidly unspools the small revelations that aid in the narrator's understanding of the [late-19th-century] world around her." Ages 8-12. (Feb.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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