Rabble Starkey

by Lois Lowry

Overview

Many things change for twelve-year-old Rabble Starkey, her mother, and her best friend, Veronica Bigelow, when Veronica's mother becomes mentally incapacitated and the Starkeys move in with the Bigelows.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780395436073
Publisher:	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date:	04/28/1987
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.73(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Lois Lowry is known for her versatility and invention as a writer. She was born in Hawaii and grew up in New York, Pennsylvania, and Japan. After several years at Brown University, she turned to her family and to writing. She is the author of more than thirty books for young adults, including the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader’s Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, NUMBER THE STARS and THE GIVER. Her first novel, A SUMMER TO DIE, was awarded the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award. Ms. Lowry now divides her time between Cambridge and an 1840s farmhouse in Maine. To learn more about Lois Lowry, see her website at www.loislowry.com

Editorial Reviews

"Lowry . . . is adept at portraying the nuances of relationships and emotions. Here she presents a lively cast of characters in an unusual plot, skillfully handled." Kirkus Reviews with Pointers

From the Publisher

Gr 5-7 Twelve-year-old Parable Ann (``Rabble'') and her mother, Sweet Hosanna, live over the Bigelows' garage. Sweet-Ho is the hired help for the Bigelows, while Rabble is best friends with their daughter, Veronica. As the story opens, the two girls are working on a family tree assignment, and this somewhat worn device serves to introduce the characters. After a slow start, the pace picks up, but while Rabble's life is eventful enough, nothing much seems to happen possibly because the narrative is so low-key as to be almost soporific. Rabble and Veronica reluctantly befriend elderly, grumpy Millie Bellows; Veronica begins to show an interest in boys; Veronica's mentally unstable mother is institutionalized after nearly drowning her young son; and the beginnings of romance spring up between Sweet-Ho and Veronica's father. But while all this is going on, readers learn more about the secondary characters than about Rabble herself, despite the fact that she is the narrator. Although she has the potential to be a strong character, she never comes to life. The narration is littered with vernacular``So we was friends,'' ``Without no exceptions''which is annoying, although it lends a touch of realism to the story. Lowry's fans will read this despite its flaws, but it's a disappointing effort. Kathleen Brachmann, Highland Park Public Library, Ill.

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