Irish author Parkinson (Sisters... No Way!
) makes a memorable American debut with her insightful novel centering on Jake, a thoughtful, inquisitive 11-year-old who aspires to be a fish painter. While buying nappies for his newborn sister, Jake discovers by his side a "greyhound thin" girl named Stella, with several younger siblings in tow, who offers him advice on which nappies to purchase. In parting, she suggests Daisy as a name for the new baby. When Jake arrives home, his mother uncannily also suggests Daisy as a name for the infant, and soon thereafter Jake comes home to find Stella (who's come to meet Daisy) chatting with his mother. Parkinson thus neatly paves the way for the friendship that grows between Jake and Stella; the boy becomes enmeshed in the bustle of Stella's eccentric clan as he jockeys for a position in his own changing family. His mother and the loving man who has helped raise Jake (his biological father left when Jake was a baby) are besotted by Daisy and decide to get married at her christening. The author shapes characters of uncommon depth, including Stella's wise and caring elderly next-door neighbor, who befriends the children and gives the tale further emotional dimension. Two life-changing moments occur for Jake, one triumphant, the other tragic (as foreshadowed from the novel's opening line). The hero's maturation makes for both a heartbreaking and uplifting story of what constitutes friendship and family. Ages 11-14. (Mar.)
