Melody Murray's Books

6/2010 Standing by my five-star rating. Tish's voice rings true in the overwrought way I remember from my own adolescence. I love the first chapter better than maybe any other first chapter in a series. It never fails to make me cry. I think the Sterling family is real and endearing. I love the fact that Tish is a little older than Betsy Ray (from the Betsy-Tacy series) and their experiences are so dissimilar while sharing a great deal. Hodel Resnikov is someone I think I remember from high school. I love this book, I do.I'm ready to jump into the fray and say that I fail to see any stealing from Maud Hart Lovelace in this book, unless one counts the name of Gramps' horse and the moment when Tish and Celinda share a tempestuous hug. 5/2008 I had to re-read this after reading Random Family which takes place in the exact same neighborhood 100 years later. It was so disconcerting to have the modern Bronx overlaid on top of Tish's West Farms. I do adore this book, though having my own sensitive, misunderstood 14-year-old added to the vertigo this time through.