Cuckoo Sister

From Publishers Weekly
Alcock's novels are admired here and in her native England for inventive plotting and crackling dialogue that individualize her unusual characters. Katie Seton, 11, tells the story of upheaval in her affluent home after the arrival of Rosie Martin, a tough 13-year-old from a London slum. Rosie is unaware of what's in the note she has been sent to deliver to the Setons by her mother Louise, and is as angry and disbelieving as Katie. Louise confesses she had stolen the Setons' baby Emma, Katie's sister, long given up for dead. While Mr. Seton tries to determine the truth, Rosie/Emma and Katie regard each other as enemies. The stranger with her lurid clothes and Cockney accent is not the sister Katie had always dreamed of. Rosie wants to get back to her free-and-easy neighborhood, friends and mother. She refuses to be Emma, sister to smarmy Katie. As time goes on, though, the girls soften and become allies during crises that lead to the conclusion of the tense, funny mystery. Rosie is not, as Katie has feared, like the cuckoo hatching in another bird's nest, shoving out the legitimate fledgling. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-10 At age five, Kate accidentally learns that she had had an older sister who was kidnapped as a baby. This discovery changes her from a reasonably pliable, pleasant child to one who is manipulative, untrustworthy and rude. The first-person narrative begins with Kate at age five, then skips to Kate at age 11when an equally arrogant slum child, Rosie, comes to their door bearing a note from her "mother" stating that she is the missing Emma. Rosie squawks; Kate sputtersboth are furious. This is not the loving sister Kate had envisioned; Rosie is smothered by the propriety of this London household and the parental doting. Alcock's skillful use of clues keeps readers guessingRosie could be like the young cuckoo who "pushes the true fledgling right out of the nest"or she could be the real Emma. Although the subject is heavy and the emotions intense, the story is not without humor and wit. Kate and Rosie are dynamic characters, their charged emotions clear and believable. The scenes depicting the girls' wavering attitudes toward each other, as well as their disdain for the insensitive adults who believe that they alone are affected by Rosie's appearance are vivid and often funny. A colorful story that radiates with life. Trev Jones, "School Library Journal"Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.


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Gr 6-10 At age five, Kate accidentally learns that she had had an older sister who was kidnapped as a baby. This discovery changes her from a reasonably pliable, pleasant child to one who is manipulative, untrustworthy and rude. The first-person narrative begins with Kate at age five, then skips to Kate at age 11when an equally arrogant slum child, Rosie, comes to their door bearing a note from her ``mother'' stating that she is the missing Emma. Rosie squawks; Kate sputtersboth are furious. This is not the loving sister Kate had envisioned; Rosie is smothered by the propriety of this London household and the parental doting. Alcock's skillful use of clues keeps readers guessingRosie could be like the young cuckoo who ``pushes the true fledgling right out of the nest''or she could be the real Emma. Although the subject is heavy and the emotions intense, the story is not without humor and wit. Kate and Rosie are dynamic characters, their charged emotions clear and believable. The scenes depicting the girls' wavering attitudes toward each other, as well as their disdain for the insensitive adults who believe that they alone are affected by Rosie's appearance are vivid and often funny. A colorful story that radiates with life. Trev Jones, ``School Library Journal''


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