A sleepover in a reputedly haunted house becomes a night of
revelations and storytelling for five classmates in this lightly
therapeutic tale. Fine (Flour Babies, 1994, etc.) sets a
deliciously spooky scene: On a dark and stormy night, Colin, Rob,
Claudia, Ralph, and Pixie discover a hidden door in their gloomy
quarters, and behind that a dusty diary titled "Richard Clayton
Harwick - My Story. Read and Weep." They settle down for a dramatic
reading and hear a bitter tale of the death of a father, his
usurpation by a hated stepfather, and the subsequent demise of
Harwick's entire family. This sparks the children - each with a
very different experience - to tell about their own divorced or
absent parents, of coping with siblings and stepsiblings, shuttling
among various residences, meeting new adults, living with or
letting out resentments. Offering a wide variety of alternative
living arrangements, plus a selection of apothegms - "Everyone's
story is different," "Misery isn't a baton in a relay race . . .
you can't get rid of it just by passing it on" - Fine doesn't
conceal her agenda or create much of a plot, but gives her
characters distinct voices and attitudes and helps readers
understand that wounds do heal, if allowed to. (Kirkus Reviews)
Read and weep . . .
One stormy night, five stranded schoolchildren uncover the story of Richard Clayton Harwick - a boy who many years ago learned what it was like to have a truly wicked stepfather. But the children have stories of their own step-parents to tell - stories that have warmth and humour, as well as sadness, and a fair share of happy endings.
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