Sophie Hartley, on Strike (review)

Nine-year-old Sophie Hartley (from Queen Sophie Hartley, BCCB 4/05) is beginning to feel victimized in her big, hectic family; it seems that every time she attempts to sneak out the back door to go to her friend Alice's house, her mom nails her for not doing her chores. In fact, Mrs. Hartley is so tired of having to constantly remind her children of their duties that she comes up with a solution so that "everyone will know what they have to do, and when, without my having to say a word," but from the moment she sticks the job board up on the fridge, tensions are high in the Hartley household. When Sophie and her thirteen-year-old sister, Nora, begin to notice that the boys get away with doing less work, the girls decide to go on strike (one night, they actually hide a bag of dirty dishes under Sophie's bed rather than clean up after dinner); much to their shock and dismay, the Hartley parents strike back, refusing to do laundry or cook meals. This entertaining portrayal of domestic unrest will ring true to many young readers who have gone head-to-head with their parents; the Hartley kids know the situation is most dire for them when, at the times Mr. and Mrs. Hartley should be angriest, they are instead laughing together ("It was horrible to be in a bad mood and have the person responsible for it acting so happy," Sophie muses). While the narration is a little overweighted with whining and complaining, the tendencies are justifiable in light of the plot; Sophie remains a bright and likable character, and the Hartley house, mess and all, proves a perfect setting for the story.