A Whole Summer of Weird Susan

Joey loves his actress aunt, Rosemary Hanover, but resents it when his cousin Susan is dumped on his family for an entire summer while her mother does a film. He and his friends, Rudy and Max, plot ways to get even for Susan's superior attitude but discover, eventually, that sometimes her ideas are the best. And when she's cast in a local production of The Member of the Wedding, the whole family waits in suspense to see if Susan's mother will show up for the final performance. Joey seems like a bit of a lug sometimes, and the plot lags during a few slapstick action sequences. But in portraying a highly theatrical, sensitive soul like Susan (dubbed Weird Susan by the boys), Ladd's first book succeeds in engaging the reader's sympathy completely. Ages 8-12. (July)