A Season for Unicorns

This is an affecting story of a girl's discovery of the truth about her parents and their life together, and her decision to break away. IngridInkyand her family (her mother, younger sister Becca, and her grandmother), have always kept her father, Peter, as the focal point of their lives. A dashing airline pilot, Peter brings home exotic presents, buys the girls ice cream, praises Inky's art, while Inky's mother stays at home, frequently in bed because of her ""bad back.'' When Inky finds out about her father's infidelities, she turns to a family that owns a hot air balloon. Mary and Gus McMurphy are completely different from Inky's own family. They have been through hard times, but have pulled together through communication. Inky attempts that approach at home. But when she confronts her mother, the woman reveals a truth Inky would never have suspected: acceptance of Peter's deceptions and ``needs.'' Although Inky's mother is a little too harshly drawn and the story tends toward the memlodramatic, Inky and Becca are both realistic and poignant in their attempts to make their family work. And Inky's resolution to the situation is quite moving. (10-14)