The Shadow on the Dial

Lindbergh's seventh novel is entrancing, a believable fantasy like The People in Pineapple Place and her other witty tales. Dawn and her brother Marcus are visiting their sour great-uncle Elroy Doolittle, ""Uncle Doo,'' an old bachelor in Florida, when the boy turns a sundial. Instantly Mr. Bros appears with his van, marked ``Bros Removers . . . Your Heart's Desire: JUST DIAL.'' Defying predestination, the children go backward on several time trips to 1903 and later years, where they conspire with loving Mollyanna to change their uncle's path in life from loneliness to his twin heart desires: a career as a flutist and a lasting marriage to a dear wife. When Dawn and Marcus are projected into the 1990s, they meet themselves as adults and learn a priceless lesson that will help them become caring grown-ups. Ages 10-14. (July)