You Can't Kiss It Better

By Diana Hendry

Junior
Red Fox
Hardback £7.99, ISBN: 0099403471

Reviewed by Bette Paul
[Armadillo 5.1 Spring 2003]

Forget the tenuous title, forgive the somewhat purple preamble, start at the first paragraph and you wonĂt stop until the last. This is gritty realism with heart and the heroine, Anna, has a brilliant voice ¨ thanks to HendryĂs dramaturgical skills. Anna is fostered, along with couple of other children, in a house by the river and the plot cleverly encompasses the problems of both distressed children and polluted river. This is a funny, touching, marvellous book, just a pity itĂs printed with such crowded pages on such horrid paper.

Buy the hardback from Amazon UK