The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley, Who Planned to Live an Unusual Life

Grade 5-8-In this tender growing-up story from Australia, 12-year-old, "exasperating and potentially infamous" Cedar B. Hartley misses her older brother who ran away from home, wonders about the circumstances of her father's death 11 years ago, and nourishes a friendship with Kite, boy acrobat. Her practice with him results in accomplished acrobatic routines, and their friendship gently evolves into romance. With unique and fully realized supporting characters and a multiethnic, urban environment, this story vibrates with authenticity. At a crucial moment, Cedar thinks, "Sometimes life hits you at such a startling lightning kind of angle, that you get pushed off your normal viewing spot. You stop knowing how things are. Instead of what you know, there are the patterns that stars make; the sound of the night breathing; the small aching spot where your feet touch the earth.- You think that if there is an It, you and It are nearly touching." This unique, vulnerable, and hugely likable protagonist has the potential to push readers off their "normal viewing spots." Small, wonderfully quirky line drawings accompany this breezy yet serious novel, which includes an amusing glossary of Australian terms.
Susan Patron, Los Angeles Public Library
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Gr. 5-8. In her debut novel, Australian writer Murray creates a true original in Cedar B. Hartley, a 13-year-old girl who has her own way of "overhauling the ordinary state of things." Her "puddle" of eccentric friends includes Oscar, who has suffered brain damage; Kite, "the bird boy," with whom Cedar forms an acrobatic team; and neighbors of all ages. In between training sessions with Kite, Cedar tries to separate the rumors from truth about her family: Why was her beloved older brother sent away? What really caused her father's death? Cedar tells her own story in an utterly unique voice, whose wandering, abstract descriptions and precocious vocabulary may limit the book's readership. But those able to follow along will appreciate Cedar's spot-on musings about everything from the differences between the ways boys and girls talk to the distance between an idea and the real thing. They'll also be charmed by Cedar's ferocious joy, intolerance for phonies, and devotion to her family and friends. "You have a green thumb with people," Oscar tells Cedar. If these winning characters are any indication, Murray does, too. Gillian Engberg
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