The Other Side of the Family

Pople, Maureen

ISBN 10: 0394838548 / ISBN 13: 9780394838540

Published by Random House / Borzoi, 1990

About this Item

This is a used book in good condition and may show some signs of use or wear . This is a used book in good condition and may show some signs of use or wear .

Seller Inventory # mon0001343955

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Other Side of the Family
• Publisher: Random House / Borzoi
• Publication Date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0394838548
• ISBN 13: 9780394838540
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

In 1942 fifteen-year-old Katherine travels to Sydney, Australia, to stay with her mother's parents for the duration of the war, but, when Japanese submarines appear in Sydney's harbor, Katherine is sent inland to stay with her other grandmother at Parson's Creek.When fifteen-year-old Kate Tucker is sent to stay with Australian relatives until the end of World War II, she makes many humorous and startling discoveries about the supposedly "bad" side of the family

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8 This book is set in Australia during World War II, but it's not about the war. Instead, the story deals with the fact that people believe what they want to believeabout world events, other people, and themselveseven if that's not necessarily the truth. Katherine Tucker has been sent from London to stay safely in Australia with her mother's parents. When Japanese submarines invade Sydney harbor, Katherine is then shipped off to the interior to stay with her father's mother. Katherine has never met Grandmother Tucker, but her mother has told her plenty about the wealthy, crotchety old woman who was so upset about her son's choice of a bride that she refused to meet the young woman, disinherited her son, and refused to have anything to do with his family. What Katherine discovers when she arrives is an elderly, eccentric woman living in poverty, wearing makeshift clothes and stealing coal from the railroad tracks. Katherine is a true-to-life character, with good intentions that sometimes go astray; she's sometimes irksome, but basically a good person. Even Katherine's parents, separated from her by half a world but never far from her thoughts, are fully developed, real and understandable. A sub-plot concerning an Italian family deftly underlines the main theme of acceptance, but does so without preaching. By the end of the book, not only has Katherine come to accept her grandmother and her father despite their faults, but she begins to accept herself and her flaws as well. A book that is rich in characterization, story, and setting. Susan M. Harding, Mesquite Public Library, Tex.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.