Hurricane Harry

Harry Kane's kindergarten year brings some big changes to his life, including his family's move from an apartment to a house. To smooth this transition, Harry's father buys him a small turtle, which later meets its demise when it goes through the washer and dryer with the laundry. But the spunky Harry learns to deal with the death of his pet and survives several other minor traumas, such as rescuing an elderly neighbor who has fallen in her home, visiting his hospitalized grandmother and--in one of the novel's funnier moments--taking a seat in the wrong classroom on the first day in his new school. The characters in Caseley's ( Dear Annie ; Harry and Willy and Carrothead ) novel are unusually well-defined and convincing, and children will immediately enter into the adventures of the warm-hearted Kane family. Each chapter is self-contained, which will enable younger--or resistant--readers to digest the novel in shorter segments. Ages 6-up. (Oct.)