Purely Rosie Pearl

Cochrane's quiet, insightful first novel takes place in 1935 in a California camp for migrant workers, where entire families spend long days under a hot sun, picking fruit. Among those ""following the crops"" are the Bushes, whose farm has been swallowed up in the Dust Bowl. Through the perceptive narration of gutsy, 12-year-old Rosie Pearl, Cochrane draws an impressively lifelike portrait of a tenacious, close-knit family. Rosie Pearl describes her new friendship with the well-heeled Maggie, who volunteers to help improve Rosie Pearl's grammar; her outrage at the suggestive and denigrating comments uttered by a despicable ""job boss""; and the family's heartbreak when her older sister's premature baby dies after a private hospital refuses the laboring woman admission without cash in hand. In an upbeat epilogue set five years later, readers learn that Rosie Pearl's father has purchased land of his own and that the girl, now in high school, hopes to win a scholarship to college. Though sluggish in spots, this is a poignant story and a solid debut. Ages 9-12. (Mar.)