Ivy Takes Care

Gr 3–6—Twelve-year-old Ivy Coleman's hardscrabble ranching family is just scraping by, while her friend Annie Evans's well-to-do parents can afford to send her to an expensive East Coast summer camp. Their differences never seemed that important before, but this year Ivy starts feeling inferior to Annie's camp friends. They part ways for the summer on bad terms, which inspires Ivy to buy Annie a conciliatory Tru-Friendship ring. To earn the money, she starts a pet-sitting business. Annie moves to the back of Ivy's mind as she focuses on interacting with her animal charges and her aspirations to become a veterinarian. While Ivy is unflappably responsible, her neighbor Billy Joe Butterworth often tags along and wreaks havoc at every job. Fortunately, the kindly local vet always sets things right. Ivy does, in fact, buy Annie the ring, yet they aren't able to reclaim the closeness they once had. But now Ivy has her business and the dream of becoming a vet, and she holds these things tight as Annie drifts away. Parts of the story are a touch didactic-they can read like a manual on how to care for animals. Ivy is perhaps too responsible to be believable, yet she is still immensely likable and will inspire children who are interested in veterinary care. There are quite a few highly suspenseful moments when animals are in peril, and these instances keep the pages turning. Give this one to animal lovers.—Amy Holland, Irondequoit Public Library, NY