In the Country of Queens by Cari Best (review)

Shirley Alice Burns has a hard time speaking out and standing up for herself. Maybe it's because she feels the value of keeping the peace, but it's more likely that her mother, "Hurricane Anna," is simply too forceful for an eleven-year-old to reckon with. Regardless of cause, Shirley's reticence has been steadily keeping her from expressing her desire to vacation with her cousins over the summer, and recently, from defending herself against a teacher's charge that Shirley, an aspiring and talented writer, has plagiarized an assignment. When Shirley discovers that her father, who supposedly was estranged from the family long ago, is actually dead, her understandable anger at being kept in the dark is the impetus she needs to find her voice. Best's tale is set in 1960s Queens, New York, and period detail offers many readers insight into the fashions and mores of what is likely their grandparents' era. Though the episodes are a tad bland, there is a discernible arc to Shirley's maturation and growing confidence as she tames the "Hurricane," forgives everyone who requires forgiveness, and claims her place in the extended family she has quietly loved from the sidelines. EB