The Not-just-anybody Family (Piper S.) - Softcover

Byars, Betsy.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330299743 ISBN 13: 9780330299749

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books, 1988

Synopsis

When Junior Blossom wakes up in the hospital, his last memory is of crouching on the barn roof with cloth wings tied to his arms, and of Maggie and Vern in the yard below, urging him to fly. That had been just before Junior spotted a police car approaching the farm in a cloud of dust. Meanwhile Pap, the children's grandfather, sits in disgrace in the city jail. He was arrested for disturbing the peace after his pickup truck accidentally dumped 2,147 beer and soda cans (worth $107.35) on Spring Street. With their mother away on the rodeo circuit, it's up to Maggie and Vern to find a way to rescue Pap and Junior. How will they solve their family problems? --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. (From the Publisher)

About this title

About the Author

Betsy Byars, a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, received a degree in English from Queens College there. Currently, she lives in Clemson, SC with her husband, a college professor. They have four grown children--one son and three daughters--and five grandchildren. "My own hobbies," Byars says, "are rather quiet. I like to read and do needlework, and I love animals. But my husband has some very interesting hobbies, and through him, I've learned to fly and earned my pilot's license. Together, we fly all over the United States. Since our children are all grown now, we also travel a great deal in Europe, but we take commercial flights because our plane is not really equipped to make transatlantic flights." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4- 7 Junior Blossom is poised on the roof of the barn, working up the courage to fly on homemade wings. His brother and sister are on the ground urging him on when Junior spots a police car coming up their road. Maggie and Vern run to hide in the woods, while Junior loses his grip on the roof and slides off, breaking both legs. The children's widowed mother is away working the rodeo circuit; Pap, their grandfather, has been arrested for disturbing the peace while he was, innocently enough, trying to retrieve the 2147 beer and pop cans that had spilled out of the back of his pick-up. Byars' characters are memorableespecially Vern, who manages to "break into" jail to be with Pap, thus causing a news sensation, and Ralphie, Junior's hospital roommate. The plot, however, is contrived in many ways. Readers are never told why police is "one of the most dreaded words in the family vocabulary," and credibility is stretched thin by Vern's jail break-in and by Maggie's and Ralphie's managing to wheel Juniorwith both legs in caststo Pap's hearing without being apprehended by hospital personnel. While this is not Byars' strongest book, the off-beat characters, crisp dialogue and fast-paced action will keep readers turning the pages. Connie C. Rockman, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, Conn.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0330299743
• ISBN 13: 9780330299749
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 139