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Summary
Summary
Laugh-out-loud stories within a story
Aunt Sally is beyond any of Melissa, Amanda, and Pee Wee's expectations. She has come all the way from Vancouver Island, Canada, to take care of the children while their parents are away, and right from the start Aunt Sally enchants them with tales of her childhood with their father. Odd characters figure largely in the stories, like Maud, a hunter rumored to have killed eighty cougars; Great-uncle Louis, a health nut who insists everyone should gnaw on sticks for extra fiber; and Fat Little Mean Girl, the star of a cautionary tale involving witchcraft and candy. All of Aunt Sally's reminiscences lead up to a crucial story about trolls, sinister creatures who supposedly lurked along the shore at night. The trolls had the power to change Aunt Sally's life forever, and their legacy may change the lives of the three present-day children as well.
Author Notes
Polly Horvath has written four previous hilarious novels, including When the Circus Came to Town , which received a starred review in School Library Journal . She lives in Victoria, British Columbia.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
When the baby-sitter cancels at the last minute, Aunt Sally fills in and shares plenty of tall tales in this National Book Award finalist, about which PW said, "Horvath's dry humor runs like a current through the book, sweeping readers along in the breathless anticipation of the next bit of absurdity." Ages 8-12. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate) ""The gist of Aunt Sally,"" as Polly Horvath phrases it in this comic novel with a surprisingly poignant under-current, is that she's a storyteller. Before Aunt Sally comes down from Vancouver to Ohio to baby-sit Melissa, Amanda, and Pee Wee, the three siblings know little about her. They know little about anyone on their father's side of the family, and, after Sally leaves a week later, they still aren't sure what they know. Did their uncle John really get the tip of his finger bitten off by a clam and thus not have to play his much-feared violin recital? Was their great-great uncle Louis really a health nut who made his great-nieces and -nephews gnaw sticks for fiber? Melissa, Amanda, and Pee Wee feel certain that not every detail of Aunt Sally's wild and enormously entertaining family tales can be believed. But readers will ascertain that somewhere within the exaggeration lies the ""gist"" of why the children's father and Sally do not have a close relationship-and along with the answer to that question comes a warning for Melissa and Amanda. Horvath, a master storyteller herself, skillfully parallels the two generations as she conveys the unthinking cruelty older siblings often bestow upon younger ones. Six-year-old Pee Wee lives the ""life of a worm"" because of the way his sisters treat him. Aunt Sally, who shows Pee Wee the respect the girls withhold, doesn't directly reprimand them for their behavior. Instead, she tells them about the time she tried to give her bratty little brother, their father, to the trolls. ""There are no locks to keep out the trolls,"" she says. ""But don't worry, the trolls don't come to you. It's your own darkness that leads you to the trolls."" There are hopeful signs that Melissa and Amanda have learned from the older generation's example and will try to keep their own darkness in check. christine heppermann (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
An unconventional aunt blows in from Vancouver to pinch-hit as a babysitter, and offers two sisters and their brother an entrancing view of family history. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have nonrefundable tickets for a trip to Paris, but their babysitter has canceled on short notice. When all other options fail, mysterious Aunt Sally arrives to spend a week with ten-year-old Melissa, eight-year-old Amanda, and six-year-old Frank, unkindly referred to by his sisters as Pee Wee. With platform shoes that lace up to her knees, and eyes full of mischief, Aunt Sally is unlike anyone they've ever met, and has never been discussed by their father'her brother. Her stories are full of colorful characters, such as a beautiful man who coaxes one relative out of mourning; Mrs. Gunderson, the dog next door; and, of course, their father, Robbie, who was the baby of the family. The stories build on each other, made suspenseful by Aunt Sally's maddening habit of leaving parts of them untold. Some of the stories are downright spooky, especially the ones about the trolls; Robbie was left on the beach with them one night and his and Sally's relationship was never the same. Most sections are also hilarious, as is the snappy and perfectly timed dialogue. Melissa's succinct definitions of entries in Aunt Sally's large vocabulary provide a thread of humor throughout, as does Aunt Sally's faithful regard for Pee Wee despite his dismissive older sisters. After the last laugh, Aunt Sally's hard-won understanding of human nature will leave readers with plenty to ponder. (Fiction. 8-12)