Please Marry My Sister CL

In 1925, Abel's oldest sister Ruthie is a real oddity: a medical doctor. But even though Abel and Annie, his other sister, love Ruthie, she has become a roadblock. She stands between Abel's getting a room of his own and Annie's marrying her boyfriend--all because of their grandmother's rule that ``a younger sister cannot get married before the older sister, no matter what.'' So Abel decides to find Ruthie a husband. With the help of pesky Hilda, whose father is a matchmaker, he locates a few good candidates, but to no avail. All's well that ends well, however, when Ruthie finds more challenging work on the other side of town. Despite the novel's interesting premise, the story never comes to life. Clifford ( Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Missing Eye ) writes about Abel's passion for ham radios, Hilda's love of horses and their period Brooklyn setting seemingly without interest. With an eye for period details, Eagle's merry drawings portray convoluted family encounters. Ages 8-12. (May)