cover image Thames Doesn't Rhyme with James

Thames Doesn't Rhyme with James

Paula Danziger. Putnam Publishing Group, $15.95 (144pp) ISBN 978-0-399-22526-0

Danziger's witty sequel to Remember Me to Harold Square has all of the zip of that novel-plus the historically rich setting of London. Kendra Kaye and her family here embark on a joint Christmas vacation with Mr. and Mrs. Lee and their son Frank, Kendra's long-distance boyfriend. While taking in the sights of London and participating in a scavenger hunt (similar to the one staged in Remember Me), Kendra longs to spend time alone with Frank. But even in the presence of her younger brother and the children of her aunt's boyfriend, Kendra and Frank share lots of quick kisses-and manage to have a holiday to remember. Typically, Danziger laces her heroine's first-person narrative with an abundance of verbal sallies, quips and puns. The consistently droll repartee may not be entirely believable, but readers, who will be chuckling along, won't mind. Ages 10-14. (Oct.)