Paper Faces

Along with peace, V-Day introduces a host of new worries for Dot, a young Londoner. After the death of her sickly infant brother, Dot and her flighty mother, Gloria, leave the bomb-scarred city for the country home of the genteel (and aptly named) Mrs. Hollidaye. As much a British stereotype as Dot's vaguely tarty, Cockney mother, the pearl-and-tweed-clad Mrs. Hollidaye could easily be the original English Rose. Though she is by far the most nurturing and imaginative person Dot meets, a stiff upper lip keeps the gracious matron from openly acknowledging her protegee's worst fears. Instead, she slowly and subtly helps Dot muster up the strength to cope with her own confusion, Gloria's immaturity and the return of Dot's father, whose activities during the war have somehow earned Gloria's contempt. Although Anderson ( The Bus People ) never quite offsets the melancholy, distancing tone of this story, she shows enormous skill in imagining a child's perspective on events bewildering even to adults. Ages 9-12. (Nov.)