Patricia Maclachlan, the author of numerous picture books and novels for children, is best known for her Newbery Medal-winning novelSarah, Plain and Tall.Her other works includeJourney,Baby,Waiting for the Magic,andKindred Souls.Born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, she attended the University of Connecticut and now lives in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, with her husband.
Gr 5-8-Baby refers to two characters in this beautifully written and moving novel-12-year-old Larkin's infant brother (who has died before the story begins) and Sophie, who is literally left in a basket in the driveway at Larkin's house. The girl's parents and Byrd, her grandmother, have been hiding their grief over their baby's death behind a wall of silence. Letting themselves love Sophie, even though they know her mother will eventually come back for her, helps them break through the barrier. When Sophie's mother does return, they are ready to mourn for the dead infant -and to give him a name. The final chapter, which takes place 10 years later, shows Sophie returning to the island for Byrd's funeral. A sense of peace and completion mark this occasion. With simple elegance, MacLachlan relates her tale about memory, love, loss, risk, and (most of all) about the power of language. Especially impressive is her ability to invest the simplest human actions and physical events with emotion and love. While the plot could never be called surefire in its appeal, and some of the happenings strain believability, the story is one that is deeply felt.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL
After bidding good-bye to the last of the ``summer people,'' Larkin, her parents and grandmother return home to find a baby in a basket. ``I cannot take care of her now, but I know she will be safe with you. . . . I will come back for her one day. I love her,'' reads a note from the child's mother. The little one's name is Sophie, and she brings a great deal of joy and comfort to the household. Yet casting a shadow on this spirited baby's luminous presence is the family's knowledge that she does not truly belong to them, and that she cannot take the place of Larkin's brother, who died in infancy. The Newberry Medalist's lean yet lyrical narrative gracefully entwines past and present, as brief passages present an older Sophie's fragmented memories of her interlude with the family. Inspired by poems, songs and Sophie's growing vocabulary, Larkin (whose mother communicates through her paintings and whose father expresses himself through his tabletop tap dancing) ponders the meaning and power of words (``There were words in the spaces between us; those words we had never spoken, words about what I thought was right''). If the story is not as compelling as Sarah, Plain and Tall or Journey , MacLachlan's style remains masterly. It is difficult to read her sentences only once, and even more difficult to part from her novel. All ages. (Oct.)
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