Yuck a Love Story

Gillmor and Gay (The Fabulous Song) team up again for a sympathetic account of a childhood crush in this good-natured book, which wisely mentions love only in the title. Austin Grouper says ""yuck"" when he hears that Amy, a girl his age, has moved in next door. Yet he courts her attention by dressing as a superhero and sculpting a dinosaur out of Popsicle sticks in her yard. "" `Dinosaurs had very small brains,' Amy said. She was wearing a blue sweater with horses on it. `So do you,' Austin told her, and went home."" On Amy's birthday, Austin doesn't get her an ordinary present. He literally lassoes the moon (alluding to It's a Wonderful Life's romance) and drags it into Amy's backyard, although he never explains why he goes to so much trouble for a girl. Amy accepts his gift politely. Gay, whose round-faced characters recall Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts, pays attention to small details. A loyal brown dog follows Austin everywhere, and Amy's three orange-spotted kittens observe each awkward meeting between the tentative couple. Gillmor portrays Austin's contradictory behavior with understanding, but doesn't sustain the screwball comedy; Amy doesn't tease Austin back, and Austin spends too many spreads alone, wrangling with the moon. The book veers into fantasy rather than developing the everyday drama it so nicely introduces. Ages 4-8. (Nov.)