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Available
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Publication
Margaret K. McElderry Books (2007), 176 pages
Description
When Big Grandma takes the four Conroy sisters on holiday as a cure for the "family failing," the girls wonder if their grandmother herself is still susceptible to it.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Turrean
The characters are as wonderfully daffy as ever, though the focus on the "family failing," a tendency to fall in love, makes this the weakest of the three "Exiles" books. McKay has a "thing" about love-at-first-sight as kids--it's a plot point in two of her series--that I find grating, but this is
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a safely minor point. McKay's stories are a joy to read. Show Less
LibraryThing member Herenya
The Conroy girls, now aged between eight and fifteen, encounter the “family failing” -- falling in love.
I didn’t find this quite as amusing as the previous two books, probably because Ruth’s crushes, which she neither wants nor wants others to know about, give the story an edge of
Ruth knew exactly what she meant; she felt the same way herself and she thought the strangest thing about being so old was the fact that it made no difference at all. She was no more self-confident, or organised, or magically in charge of her emotions than she had been in the past. Nothing had changed; she was the same muddle-headed person she had always been, forever swinging between happiness and despair, never doing the right thing at quite the right moment. Naomi, eighteen months younger and two years behind her at school, had far more common sense.
Naomi was brainy, and a much more private person than Ruth [...] She and Ruth were very good allies; they understood each other. They read the same books, liked the same friends, detested the same enemies and managed to share a bedroom and yet remain on speaking terms most of the time. They endured with courage their little sisters Rachel and Phoebe.
“Although they really are insane,” remarked Ruth gloomily.
“Don’t be silly!” said their mother, although secretly thinking that Ruth had a point.
I didn’t find this quite as amusing as the previous two books, probably because Ruth’s crushes, which she neither wants nor wants others to know about, give the story an edge of
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second-hand embarrassment. But McKay is no less insightful about her characters, and each of the girls are no less intensely themselves. I still immensely enjoyed the time spent in their company. “I used to think that fifteen would be nearly grown up,” said her sister Naomi, “until you started being it.”Ruth knew exactly what she meant; she felt the same way herself and she thought the strangest thing about being so old was the fact that it made no difference at all. She was no more self-confident, or organised, or magically in charge of her emotions than she had been in the past. Nothing had changed; she was the same muddle-headed person she had always been, forever swinging between happiness and despair, never doing the right thing at quite the right moment. Naomi, eighteen months younger and two years behind her at school, had far more common sense.
Naomi was brainy, and a much more private person than Ruth [...] She and Ruth were very good allies; they understood each other. They read the same books, liked the same friends, detested the same enemies and managed to share a bedroom and yet remain on speaking terms most of the time. They endured with courage their little sisters Rachel and Phoebe.
“Although they really are insane,” remarked Ruth gloomily.
“Don’t be silly!” said their mother, although secretly thinking that Ruth had a point.
Show Less
Awards
Original language
English
Original publication date
1996
Physical description
176 p.; 5.5 inches
ISBN
1416967974 / 9781416967972