Lucy the Good

As she did in The Worry Tree, Musgrove introduces a sympathetic heroine with whom many readers will identify. Lucy wants to be good, but her impetuousness and quick temper make that difficult for her. When the book opens, the Australian second grader is sitting in the time out chair at school. "I must not throw a temper tantrum in class," she writes, while thinking, "[u]nless absolutely necessary." The dichotomy between what Lucy says and thinks adds ample humor to this heartfelt novel. She's not afraid to speak her mind, though: when her father suggests that she practice counting to 10 before losing her temper, Lucy responds, "What for?... I already know how to count." The pressure to be good intensifies when Lucy's visiting aunt from Holland tells her that the Dutch Santa Claus's sidekick stuffs naughty kids in a sack and sends them to Spain. This encourages Lucy to "figure out this good and bad business before it was too late," and she takes steps to control her anger. With humor of their own, Orsini's b&w spot illustrations portray Lucy's behavior—bad and good. Ages 7–10. (Oct.)