The Potato Kid - Softcover

Grade 5-8-- Ellis has the perfect summer planned, the highlight of which is to be a month at the Equestrian Center in Massachusetts. Then, at the very beginning of vacation, her mother, who liked to be known for her good works without doing any of the actual work herself, volunteers to take an underprivileged child from a potato farm for the summer. Because everyone else in the family is busy, Ellis is drafted as babysitter/companion to the unwanted visitor, Lilac Kingsmith. From the beginning, Ellis and Lilac dislike each other; Ellis is jealous of the attention her grandparents pay Lilac, and Lilac, desperate for a home and a family to care for her, is defensive and frightened. The story is populated with well-developed, realistic characters, and, although readers won't like all of them, they will understand their emotions and their actions. Corcoran has also captured the essence of summer, that season of long, slow days which has an : undercurrent of haste. --Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC
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