Devoted readers of McKay's Casson books (Saffy's Angel; Caddy Ever After) will welcome this installment, and newcomers will be swept up in the lives of this captivating English family. The novel looks back to Caddy Casson's 12th year, when many changes in her life (and those of her three best friends) challenged her sense of security.
Each of the four friends, who started primary school together, contributes something to their alliance. "Alison... hates everyone./ Ruby is clever./ Beth. Perfect./ Caddy, the bravest of the brave." Secondary school brings change into their lives and the dynamics of their friendship. Alison trades conformity for detention. Ruby's test results put her on an intellectual fast track that separates her from her peers. Beth grows too tall for her pony. More important to Caddy is the premature birth of a baby sister, which keeps her mother in the hospital and prompts her father to move home full-time from his flat in London. Saffy and Indigo add to the family chaos. They seem to know everything their parents don't want revealed and are totally willing to tell all to the world. McKay combines all these elements in an exciting plot sprinkled with lots of tears but also scenes of laugh-out-loud humor. The ending may be bittersweet, but it's also very satisfying.
McKay's warm, charming family story will please fans of the previous five books, and will attract a new generation to enjoy them. --Ellen Loughran, consulting librarian