Nine-year-old Perry, an only child, spends Thursday afternoons with her grandmother, Honora Lee, who lives at the Santa Lucia nursing home and suffers from dementia. With Honora Lee's help, Perry writes and illustrates an alphabet book about the residents. Fans of middle grade novels with quirky female protagonists will enjoy this story and its stylish color illustrations, which suit the mood of the text. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 4-7-Elderly Honora Lee lives in the Santa Lucia rest home. Suffering from dementia, she rarely recognizes her granddaughter when she visits. But Honora's pithy comments, old-fashioned sayings, and bossing of the other residents intrigue and amuse Perry, who decides to create an alphabet book that will bring some order and understanding to the residents. Her book becomes an "ACB"-a lovingly drawn, mixed-up alphabet reflecting the lives and characters of the staff and residents. Nine-year-old Perry is an endearing character, a quirky, curious only child who lives a lonely life. Her parents put their energies into their professional lives and middle-class pursuits, and Perry spends her time at afterschool activities and with her nanny, Nina. It is not surprising that she tries to create a family by spending time with her grandmother. Despite the sadness and confusion of the rest home, she finds friendship and caring from the residents and the committed staff. Like Perry, the book itself is an original, with quirky, full-color illustrations that are fitting but unusual interpretations of the text. The subject matter and the author's gently bemused style of writing won't have wide child appeal; adult readers are the better audience.-Michelle Anderson, Tauranga City Libraries, New Zealand (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

New Zealand writer De Goldi's (The 10 PM Question) story of an only child's determined efforts to know and love her grandmother deserves a place in the pantheon of quiet, word-of-mouth classics. Perry's mother, a psychologist, has the nine-year-old scheduled up to the hilt ("Monday was piano with Gabriel.... Wednesday was clarinet with James"); her father jets off to conferences overseas. When Thursday's activity is cancelled, Perry proposes weekly visits to the nursing home where Gran is hospitalized with dementia, and a strange and touching friendship unfolds. Perry, who's as good at drawing as she is hopeless at everything else, begins assembling the alphabet book of the title-Gran's name is Honora Lee-and sets down with beguiling honesty all she sees at the nursing home ("W is for Walking Stick, which Melvyn uses as a Weapon"). Over time, it becomes clear that Gran's inability to recognize people does not mean that her life is any less precious or noble. Perry is funny and bewitching, and all the other characters, even the walk-ons, are equally engaging. O'Brien's curious diagram-illustrations pay appropriate tribute to Perry's admiration for the unconventional. Ages 10-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Only-child Perry is overscheduled piano lessons, clarinet lessons, after-school tutoring, and dance but when one of her weekday afternoons opens up, she decides that she will spend it with her grandmother, Honora Lee, at her nursing home. Honora's senility is fairly advanced, and she can be cantankerous, but Perry seems unphased. At first her parents are skeptical, but determined Perry has made up her mind. Hoping to find something she and her gran can bond over, Perry notices Honora's obsession with spelling and decides to illustrate an alphabet book using her help. Over the course of the next several months, smart and observant Perry narrates in a matter-of-fact tone as she gets to know her gran and the nursing home residents by writing down things about them for each letter of the alphabet though thanks to the scatterbrained residents, her abecedary is fittingly all out of order. De Goldi's (The 10 P.M. Question, 2010) quiet story, illustrated with O'Brien's lovely full-color abstract drawings, tells a moving tale of patience, compassion, and family.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2014 Booklist