Life Magic - Hardcover

Cooper, Melrose

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805041141 ISBN 13: 9780805041149

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co, 1996

Synopsis

Crystal has two gifted sisters and feels as if she is not special at all, until she is befriended by her Uncle Joe, learns that he is dying of AIDS, and has to find a way to keep the family strong, in the process learning to appreciate the inner gifts she possesses.

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Reviews

Grade 4-6. Crystal's uncle Joe is dying of AIDS. The story line doesn't provide much factual information about the virus and considerably underplays the progression of the disease that results in the death of a beloved family member. Readers never know how the man got HIV/AIDS. The family and general community appear to just understand his health status. While acceptance of HIV-positive people is an important goal, it seems unrealistic that his three nieces would not ask a whole series of questions. The story tends to duck other issues as well, such as the disappearance and reentry of the father into Crystal's family life. The overall tone is amazingly cheerful from an adult standpoint. Crystal's grief when her uncle dies is perhaps the most realistic portion of the novel. The general theme of the book, Crystal's desire to be special, and the general lighthearted tone, provides an odd counterpoint to the issues of death and dying surrounding her.?Melissa Gross, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Predictable as a sunrise, this sequel to Life Riddles (1993) explores the emotional effects of seeing AIDS kill a beloved relative. Sixth grader Crystal is feeling low, especially since sister Janelle is already a published author and best friend Shawna stars in dance recitals. The news that Uncle Joe is flying in cheers her; when he arrives, he seems to be the same, still dashing out to make snow angels with her, but as months go by he loses weight and energy, and finally tells Crystal about his AIDS. Crystal wonders why she feels so numb; at last she explodes at a class bully, who tearfully reveals that his mother had AIDS, too. ``Enemies become friends paired when simultaneous feelings are shared,'' summarizes her aunt, a librarian with an endless fund of aphorisms. When Joe dies (offstage), Crystal suddenly discovers that she's inherited his artistic talent, and sees, out her window one morning, a snow angel with no footprints around it. Although this spans the gap--strictly in terms of reading level--between picture books like Leslea Newman's Too Far Away To Touch (1995) and the still-growing phalanx of pre-teen and YA novels, the unlikely plot, superficial character development, and near-total lack of information about the disease make it a shaky bridge, at best. (Fiction. 9-11) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 4^-6. Crystal feels humiliated that she has to spend time in the sixth-grade remedial reading class, especially since her older sister is always winning prizes at school. It helps her a lot when her beloved uncle Joe comes back home; he's an artist, and he always makes her feel special and important. But then she discovers that he is dying of AIDS. As in her Life Riddles (1994), Cooper creates a warm African American extended family in a supportive urban community. They see each other through hard times. It's a bit far-fetched that Crystal discovers her latent artistic talent after her uncle dies, but her grief is heartfelt, and there's no slick comfort there, even as she moves through the stages from denial to howling sorrow and, finally, some acceptance. Her aunt's wise epigrams are preachy ("Sometimes when one door shuts, another one opens" ), but they do say what the people in the story experience. An excellent bibliotherapy book to help middle-schoolers talk about AIDS and cope with the death of a loved one. Hazel Rochman

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Life Magic

By Melrose Cooper

Henry Holt and Company

Copyright © 1996 Melrose Cooper
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-8050-4114-9

CHAPTER 1

I was sure happy to say hello to autumn. Not that I didn't like summer, mind you. But this particular year, summer was a roller coaster. A good-bad, up-down, back-and-forth ride, like my sister Janelle had said.

She's the smart one. Even got a few of her stories published in magazines when she was just thirteen years old.

Roxann's real quiet. She's the baby, and I mean that like it sounds. Mama finally gave up trying to get Roxann to stop sucking her thumb.

Except for being in the middle, I never did know quite where I fit in. Till the magic touched my life. Life magic, I call it.

But getting back to that summer, it had been one thing after another. Janelle got famous. Mama lost her job. Daddy came home after being gone a whole year, separated from Mama, and got a new job. And we were a family again.

It was good. And bad. Because it was different. Lots of new rules. That's why I was glad to start school. Or thought I was, till I actually got there.

See, it all started with my sixth-grade teacher. Wanted me to be tested. Said I might have some reading and language delays. That's how she put it.

Mind you, I had never been a shining star in school like Janelle, but I got by. Mama made a big deal about the A's I got on last year's report card to make me feel good. But two of them were in gym and music and the other was for spelling.

So in October, Miss Ross sent a note to my parents. Through the mail, like maybe she didn't trust me to give it to them or something. Said I needed some kind of testing for reading.

Daddy said, "Ain't nothin' wrong with your readin', girl. You just got to do more of it, is all."

Janelle said, "We could start a chapter book tonight, Crystal, if you want." That meant that she'd read a page, then I'd read a page, and so on, and she'd have to help me with the big words. I knew she was trying to be kind, but I felt mad at her for saying it all the same.

Mama sighed. "Better to find out if something's wrong now rather than wait. Might as well have you tested." She smiled, but I knew her teeth would've shown a lot more if I had told her I got an A on a book report or won an English award like Janelle instead.

Maybe Miss Ross was wrong, I thought. I decided to let my strong points defend me. "What about spelling?" I asked Mama. "Stupids don't get A's in spelling."

Mama shook her head and sighed again. "Crystal, nobody said anything about being stupid. Anyway, spelling may be a totally different function. I've known people who can write but can't spell and people who can spell but can't write."

Roxann just sucked her thumb and tended to her new twin dolls, Dennis and Denise. Our Aunt Barbara, who lives upstairs, gave them to her for not crying the first day of first grade.

Right about then, I was wishing my thumb and I were best friends, too. I decided I couldn't wait to ask Aunt Barbara's opinion of getting tested. She was always full of what she called life riddles, little sayings she made up or picked up from other places.

"I'm going to Aunt Barbara's," I said and hurried out before anyone could give me a chore.

Aunt Barbara was making beaded earrings for her friend Ophelia's birthday. They worked together at the public library.

I told her the story about Miss Ross's letter and she said, "There are worse things, and you know, Crystal, sometimes when one door shuts, another one opens."

Before I had a chance to ask her what doors had to do with reading and language delays, she asked, "Gold or silver?" and held up the earr

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805041141
• ISBN 13: 9780805041149
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 115