cover image Hey You, Sister Rose

Hey You, Sister Rose

Eileen Walsh Strauch. Tambourine Books, $13 (158pp) ISBN 978-0-688-11829-7

This upbeat first novel offers a glimpse at the Catholic grade school experiences of two girls in Baltimore. Arlene Warren dreads beginning sixth grade at Saint Anthony's under the watchful eye of strict Sister Rose, the nun who has had her number ever since she scolded Arlene for laughing in church last year. But school holds other challenges as well, as Arlene befriends an outcast new student and works hard to hone her academic skills. Arlene's tolerance of the ``Holy Terror'' grows, and she and her classmates actually find themselves saddened at Sister Rose's year-end news. Stauch's breezy writing is sure to keep readers turning the pages, but does not completely hide the novel's shortcomings. The story feels contemporary, but forced references to the Korean War, modes of transportation and the prices at Woolworth's awkwardly place the action in the early 1950s. Sister Rose's actions (which amount to stern encouragement) and her demeanor hardly make her the ogre readers are led to expect. Nonetheless, Strauch's debut marks the welcome entry of a lighthearted voice into the ranks of middle-grade fiction. Ages 8-up. (Mar.)