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.

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Reviews

Grade 5-8-- An episodic tale about four distinctly individual sisters growing up. ``Oh, it was hateful to be poor!'' mourns Vivienne as she compares her much-worn, hand-me-down dress to shy Nancy Tuckett's pink-ruffled gingham. Since Mum neglects housework in favor of the greater rewards of writing obituary poems for the newspaper and Dad's either prospecting or embarrassing his daughters with his peculiar inventions, the girls have developed strong survival skills and a frank view of their Australian world in the late 1940s. With their budding-actress neighbor to add zest and confusion, each girl learns a bit more about herself, appearances, and what matters in even the least ordinary family. Klein again shows that she's a master of dialogue, sibling dynamics, and youthful characters at once unique and undeniably creatures of their age group. Fresh, humorous, offbeat, with a bit of nostalgia for the era of film stars and red, red lipsticks.
- Sara Miller, Rye County Day School, NY
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0670839094
• ISBN 13: 9780670839094
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208