cover image Christina Katerina and the Time She Quit the Family

Christina Katerina and the Time She Quit the Family

Patricia Lee Gauch. Putnam Publishing Group, $14.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-399-21408-0

Christina Katerina, the spunky heroine of Christina Katerina and the Box, is back. This time, however, she has had quite enough of her family. When she is unfairly blamed for the commotion her brother and his friends are making, Christina decides to quit her family. ""Call me Agnes,'' she tells her mother. ``Call me Mildred,'' her mother says. ``You go your way. We'll go ours.'' Agnes and Mildred divide the houseAgnes gets the left side of the sink, one pile of clean dishes, one quarter of the living room, three hooks in the hall and her bedroom. Mildred and the family get the rest of the house. At first everything is perfectAgnes can do anything she wants, and nobody bothers her. But gradually she begins to miss ``Mildred'' and the rest of the clan. Primavera's vivacious illustrations serve up a saucy complement to Gauch's story about the indomitable Christina Katerina. Ages 4-8. (September)