Dancing with Great-Aunt Cornelia /

This comedy about New York society introduces the flamboyantly wealthy Cornelia Witherspoon (whose face ""could sit on Mount Rushmore"") and her 13-year-old namesake. During a two-week stay with Great-Aunt Cornelia, Connie, a self-described ""ordinary kid"" from Queens, becomes acquainted with some of the lesser-known corners of Manhattan: the Museum of Hyper-Modern Art, a concert hall made out of a deserted gas station and Miss Canterbury's School of Social Dance and Deportment. With help from her personal hairdresser, fashion consultant and dental hygienist, the elder Cornelia prepares her niece to ""go out into the world"" by changing ""the parts that show."" Meanwhile, Connie's older sister, addicted to TV shows and tabloids about psychics, is busy doing detective work to uncover secrets about the Witherspoon lineage. Her startling discoveries put a whole new light on her and her sister's relationship to their eccentric aunt. First-novelist Quirk's irreverent view of art, religion, intellectualism and family structure is entertaining in the beginning, but her humor becomes increasingly labored as she strives to sustain the high level of energy established in the first few chapters. Readers, bombarded by the ridiculous, may also find mild-mannered Connie to be an insufficient touchstone for normalcy, especially as Great-Aunt Cornelia and her entourage first steal the show and then spin it out of control. Ages 8-12. (May)