The One Hundredth Thing About Caroline
by Lois Lowry
Rating: ****
Read 7/10/20013

I’m putting this one on my Burton-browbeating shelf, even though in truth I had to drag this recommendation from the Burtons with barbed hooks. And wow, I’m glad I did. Unfailingly hilarious, Caroline observes life through her own special lens. She’s an entirely geeky dinosaur-lover who has a wanna-be journalist best friend, a mostly obnoxious brother, a wry and observant mother…oh, the whole cast of characters here is a delight. I chortled and guffawed my way through this, little realizing that while I was laughing I was also being drawn ever deeper into Caroline’s world.

A few bits, too good not to share:
“Parsnips! Mom! Nobody makes their kids eat parsnips! Listen, before you do another thing, Mom, call the Hot Line for Child Abuse. Confess to them that you were planning to feed parsnips to your children. They’re there to help you, Mom.”

and

“Maybe by then I will have married a millionaire,” said their mother. “In the meantime, do either of you want another sandwich, bearing in mind that this bologna cost $1.89 a pound?”