Humbug

A victim of adult convenience, eight-year-old Cora is temporarily boarded with a very unpleasant girl named Angelica and her equally disagreeable mother, ``Aunt Sunday.'' The only saving grace is the bond she forms with another unhappy boarder, Sunday's invalid mother, Ma Potter. But when Angelica frames Cora as a diamond thief, even Ma Potter's brand of no-nonsense grandmothering is scant consolation. Cora's ultimate solution to her problem is to run away, but, through the wisdom of Ma Potter, she (and the reader) receive a tool to put painful and confusing experiences in perspective. Ma Potter, meanwhile, gaining some overdue insight into her own life, offers the priceless and humorous comfort of experience to Cora by saying at a particularly uncomfortable moment, ``Cheer up. They can't shoot us.'' Well-rounded, recognizably vulnerable adult characters play well against Cora's very childlike dilemma. Bawden has once again struck the perfect balance between high-spirited storytelling and thoughtful content. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)