cover image Hit the Nerve

Hit the Nerve

Harriet Burandt, Shelly Corwin. Henry Holt & Company, $15.95 (96pp) ISBN 978-0-8050-5075-2

Based on the experiences of coauthor Burandt's mother, nine self-contained episodes relate the adventures of a farm girl growing up in Depression-era Texas. At 13, Irene Hutto outwits a panther, survives a hurricane, gets thrown from her mother's prize horse and has a close call with a rattlesnake. Between crises the heroine grudgingly does her chores (which mostly consist of baby-sitting her five younger siblings) while marveling at modern conveniences and fashions that have not yet made an appearance in her rural community (the Sears, Roebuck catalogue provides her inspiration). Throughout, the telling of the tales (particularly the first few) is forced. Descriptions are riddled with tiresome or awkward phrases (""For a split second there was that type of calm and electricity in the air, like before you're hit by a storm, when your hair stands up all over"") and dialogue frequently turns into a battle of cliches (""Stop jumping in front of my face! I bet your freckles bounce right off your face someday""). Despite its weaknesses, this series of farm escapades succeeds, to an extent, in evoking a sense of time and place. The characters, who first appear as cardboard cut-outs, gain depth as the book progresses. Ages 9-12. (Apr.)