All in the Blue Unclouded Weather - Hardcover

Klein, Robin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670839094 ISBN 13: 9780670839094

Publisher: Viking Juvenile, 1992

Synopsis

The four Melling girls--Vivienne, Cathy, Heather, and Grace--grow up in a small Australian town during the late 1940s, dreaming of Clark Gable, debutante balls, new hairstyles, and stockings with seams up the back.

About this title

About the Author

Robin Klein is one of Australia’s most popular and accomplished writers for children and young adults. Robin has had more than 40 books published. Her works have been adapted for both stage and screen. Many of her books have been shortlisted for the Australian Children's Book of the Year Award.

Amie Kaufman is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of science fiction and fantasy for young adults. Her multi-award winning work has been published in 24 countries, and been described as a game-changer’ (Shelf Awareness), stylistically mesmerising’ (PW).

From Kirkus Reviews

The gifted author of Hating Alison Ashley (1985) makes a bow to Little Women in an incisive, often hilarious portrait of four sisters growing up in the Australia of the late 1940's, with both parallels and contrasts to Alcott's novel enriching her story. Like the Marches', the Mellings' poverty is a factor in their struggles to make do and to get along with their peers; Klein, too, reveals much through episodes focused on each of the girls. The Mellings, whose improvident father's behavior (attributed to WW I experiences) is bizarre and whose mother is lost in writing some sadly uninspired verse, are near the bottom of the scale--of which they are painfully aware. But though most of their attempts to be included with their social betters are doomed to failure, they are vital and imaginative, irrepressibly occupied with outrageous pranks, repartee, and rivalries-- especially among themselves. Grace, Heather, Cathy, and Vivienne are distinctive and memorable; and, while their down-under vocabulary may give some readers pause, it's an integral part of the strongly evoked setting and often self-explanatory. The girls' rowdy in-fighting is fierce--exaggerated for humor but authentic; it also provides a foil for some touching final scenes that reveal their underlying loyalty and affection. And though much of the narrative is farcical and the episodic structure leaves some loose ends, it all adds up to a gritty, intriguing glimpse of a particular time and place. (Fiction. 11-15) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking Juvenile
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0670839094
• ISBN 13: 9780670839094
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 208