The Horn Book Guide

INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Murray, Martine

The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley: (Who Planned to Live an Unusual Life)

258 pp. | Scholastic/Levine | June, 2003 | Trade ISBN 0-439-48622-X $$15.95

(2) 4-6 In this captivating first novel, twelve-year-old Cedar grapples with her older brother's absence, the truth about her dead father, and a new friendship--and performs in a circus--all in the context of the day-to-day events of a suburban Australian neighborhood. Cedar's first-person narration features an originality of expression that will carry readers through both the particularities of an unfamiliar setting and a large cast of eclectic characters.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2003