ANOTHER DAY

Francie finds the start of her second term at Alchester High very trying, because her best friend won't be starting until halfway through the year, and Francie has been moved up to the more difficult second form.

Gr 4-8 In this atypical school story set in England around 1934, readers meet Francie Carey, who is about to start her second term at Alchester High School. Francie, much to her distress, learns that she has been promoted a grade and that her best friend, Geraldine, will not be returning to school for months. Soon after her mother discovers an old whistle with a Gaelic inscription in the attic, Francie discovers Tod, a strange looking child who looks as though he has stepped out of time and who shares her love of animals. Tod lessens Francie's loneliness, and together they plot to save an old owl they see inside an inn. Tomalin tries to do too much in this slim volume. Although basically a school story, Francie spends most of her time outside of school with mysterious, ghostlike Tod. A love of animals is also included but the relationship between man and animals is not expanded upon, nor do readers get a sense of the period of time in which the novel is set. The story contains many elementsschool, fantasy, animals, historybut none are fully developed enough to satisfy young readers. Regina Pauly, Palmyra High School, N.J.

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