LILY & RUNAWAY BABY - Hardcover

ea. vol: (Stepping Stone Bks.). CIP. Ran dom. 1987. PLB $5.99; pap. $1.95. Grade 2-5 Both of these high/low books fill the readability measure, but the first falls short in the quality test. Lily and the Run away Baby is the story of a third grader who decides to take her baby sister with her when she runs away to nearby Tren ton, N.J. Lily has never crossed a street by herself but has no trouble purchasing a train ticket and getting on the train to New York. A woman on the train kidnaps Muf fin, so Lily sets off to recover the baby herselfand actually spurns the help of the police. The whole account is unbeliev able. Next Spring an Oriole shows more promise. Libby and her parents move from Virginia to Michigan during the late 1830s. It is the oft-told tale of a family who befriends an Indian and is rewarded with the Indians' friendship in return. Charac terization and plot are much stronger in this one. These can be considered where Giff's ``Polk Street School'' books (Dell) and Scott Corbett's ``Trick'' series (Lit tle) have a large following, but they're not likely to be as popular. Sharron McEl meel, Cedar Rapids Community Schs . , Iowa
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