Piper Reed, Navy Brat

July 30, 2007
Crisp writing from a National Book Award winner, and a Navy-family backdrop, raise this otherwise formulaic chapter-book series opener several notches above average. Piper, an independent-minded fourth grader and the narrator here, is hardly thrilled when her father, a Navy aviation mechanic known to his family as Chief, announces that he has been reassigned and the family will be moving from San Diego to Pensacola, Fla., the home of the famous Blue Angels flight team. When they arrive at their new home (after an attenuated cross-country drive that includes a visit with grandparents in Louisiana), she composes a “Why-I-Wish-We’d-Never-Moved list,” which includes leaving behind her tree house and her very own bedroom (she now shares a room with her younger sister). On the plus side, Piper’s parents let her and her two sisters get a dog and, since her choice of breed is nixed, Piper gets to choose its name (Bruna). Before long, Piper sees the Blue Angels soar overhead and decides that she wants to join their elite team when she grows up—and settles firmly into her new environment. Holt (When Zachary Beaver Came to Town
) relays quotidian events with humor and insight, believably portraying a likable girl’s rapport with her siblings and parents. Davenier’s (The First Thing My Mama Told Me
) dynamic line drawings convey the narrator’s spunky personality. Ages 8-11.

August 1, 2007
Gr 3-5-This entertaining read will appeal to fans of Judy Moody and Ramona Quimby. Fourth-grader Piper Reed is used to movingher father is a Navy Chief. But the family's previous moves have always happened during the summer, not in October when school has already started. That is the situation facing Piper and her two sisters, seventh-grader Tori and five-year-old Sam. This time the girls are relocated from San Diego to Pensacola where their father will soon leave on ship duty for six months. Pensacola holds some surprises for Pipera new puppy, friends who also have a parent on her father's ship, and the Blue Angels flight team (which Piper can watch practice during recess). She also discovers that her siblings can be fun and that there really is such a thing as sister magic. Piper is an irrepressible character struggling with dyslexia and at times exasperated by her place as the middle child with an older sister on the brink of adolescence and a younger sister who is extremely smart. But through it all, her upbeat individuality shines. Davenier's amusing pen-and-ink illustrations capture the personalities of the Reed sisters. A welcome addition to middle-grade fiction shelves."Terrie Dorio, Santa Monica Public Library, CA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2007
In her first chapter book for younger readers, which is apparently the first in a series, award-winningauthor Holt tells a lively family story that draws on herexperiences of growing up a Navy brat. For nine-year-old Piper, it is sometimes hard being the middle kid, especially now that the family is once again going to a new base. When they get to Pensecola, Florida, the first day of school is not everyones, just ours. It doesnt help that Piper is dyslexic. But she copes in class, and she creates aclub to make friends. The family stuff is the heart of the story, not only the constant moves and Dads being away on duty six months at a time but also the tension, laughter, and love in Pipers relationships with her bossy older sister and hertalented younger one. Daveniers occasional black-and-white pictures capture the daily family dramas. Readers will look forward to the next book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

September 10, 2007
Nine-year-old Piper Reed is used to her family moving to a new place every two years because of her father's job as a mechanic for the Navy. “When a man joins the Navy, his family joins the Navy,” he always explains. But the most recent upheaval, a move from San Diego to Pensacola, Fla.—in the middle of the school year, no less—seems especially trying for the whole clan. Fortunately there's not much that can dim Piper's spunk for long. Soon she forms a new band of pals, her Gypsy Club, and decides that when she grows up she may even join the Blue Angels flight team (which practices nearby). Though Card's voice is laudably youthful, it has a nasal tone, stretched to the limit during some exaggerated whining by Piper's youngest sister Sam. Additionally, Card's pacing often feels a bit slow for the material. But young listeners will be happy to make the acquaintance of this new character, who is slated to be the star of a series. Ages 8-up.

September 1, 2007
"Sometimes being a Navy brat was the pits," but usually it's full of activity and challenges -- just the way irrepressible nine-year-old Piper Reed likes it. She might have dyslexia, and she might have a stick-in-the-mud older sister and a showoff prodigy of a little sister, but Piper knows who she is and what she wants. When Chief Reed announces to the family that they will be moving from the naval base in San Diego to the one in Pensacola, Florida, Piper again faces what it means to live the Navy life. Piper's optimistic dad-saluting spirit is what gets her through the long transcontinental road trip, a visit with mean cousins, her father's departure for ship duty, and the difficulties of starting another "gypsy club" -- Piper has already moved five times -- with a whole new group of friends at Blue Angels Elementary School (the famed flying squad is based in Pensacola). Holt writes with a light touch as she captures the details of military life through Piper's personable voice; Davenier's pen-and-wash sketches are aptly exuberant. Filled with warm, realistic family situations mixed with humor, this chapter book deserves a special flyover by the Blue Angels.

(Copyright 2007 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)