MESS PETS
Jill McElmurry, . . North-South/SeaStar, $15.95 (40pp) ISBN 978-1-58717-174-1
They may share genes and a bedroom, but twins Hilary and Hannah are polar opposites when it comes to cleanliness. This antagonistic, Oscar-and-Felix–style relationship is the genesis of a wacky fantasy about a room so messy it grows things—namely, "mess pets." "Hannah, Hannah, garbage canna,/ fell in love with a rotten banana!/ When we asked her, 'How's it smell?'/ she said, 'I like it very well!' " taunts tidy Hilary. Plucked from the playground, McElmurry's verse rollickingly reflects the contrasting pair—sometimes neat and tidy, and sometimes with nary a rhyme in sight. After setting up the conflict, McElmurry cuts loose her imagination (as she did so well in her debut book,
Reviewed on: 07/15/2002
Genre: Children's
Library Binding - 40 pages - 978-1-58717-175-8
Prebound-Sewn - 978-0-613-86824-2