Bartoletti, Susan Campbell Down the Rabbit Hole: The Diary
of Pringle Rose, 320 p. Scholastic, 2013.
$13. Violence: PG.
Pringle Rose, 14, is at the mercy of
her indifferent uncle and horrid aunt, after her parents are killed in a
carriage accident. When they talk
of committing her brother Gideon to an asylum, Pringle Rose decides that it is
time to run, so they sneak away to Chicago, to hopefully find refuge with an
old friend of their mother’s.
Instead, however, the pair find themselves living with some people they
met on the train. Just as life
seems to be settling in, Pringle Rose learns an awful truth, is severely
betrayed and then the whole town is engulfed in fire.
I don’t know if the authors are limited to a certain amount
of pages with this format, but I felt cheated once the fire appeared on the
scene. All of the angst and
problems resolved themselves too quickly and in too pat a manner. The prologue only makes it worse as it
involves Pringle Rose’s very indifferent attitude to the San Francisco
Earthquake several years later. Up
until that end, however, everything is interesting. I just wanted more and I know that Bartoletti is fully
capable of delivering.
EL, MS –
OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher
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