Sibling rivalry, nature featured topics for children

Two picture books by a Maine husband and wife team and a pair of new novels for older readers provide interesting reading material for children.

WE GOT MY BROTHER AT THE ZOO, by John and Ann Hassett, Houghton Mifflin, 32 pages, $14.94

Mary Margaret Morrison has a new brother, and she’s not happy about it. Her mother and father are so busy taking care of him that they don’t have time for her. Come to think of it, Mary Margaret says, maybe he’s not her brother after all. Maybe he came from the zoo, or another planet, or a bunch of monkeys. Mary Margaret almost convinces herself of these possibilities, until the thought occurs to her that she would have to give him back if he didn’t really belong in her family. Sisterly love triumphs over sibling rivalry in the lighthearted ending to this book. The Hassetts, who live in Maine, manage accurately but whimsically to convey an older sibling’s mixed feelings concerning the arrival of a new baby in the family.

JUNIOR — A LITTLE LOON TALE, by John and Ann Hassett, Down East Books, 32 pages, $14.95

Junior, a baby loon, is bothered by the speedboats that zigzag noisily across his lake-side world and the rubbish that washes ashore near his nest. He decides to hunt for quieter quarters. His search takes him to the locales of parking lot pigeons and backyard birdfeeders crowded with chick- adees. Meanwhile, as his parents set out to find him, the humans who live near the lake realize how much they miss this family of loons. A more judicious balance of nature occurs when Junior returns.

The moral of the tale is a little too obviously implied, detracting from the success of the book. “You see, everyone now realized that loons were as much a part of the lake as the water itself. So they decided to clean up the lake and promised never to drive their boats recklessly or make such a nuisance of themselves ever again.” The authors would have been wiser had they let their young readers determine the environmental message on their own.

ASKING THE RIVER, by David Kherdian, Orchard Books, 112 pages, $14.95 (trade), $14.99 (library), ages 10 and older

A young Armenian-American boy struggles with questions about his identity. Neither Armenian nor American, he wonders what exactly he is and what purpose his life is supposed to fulfill. In quiet moments, with sketchbook or journal in hand, he sits by the river and searches for answers to these questions. Although this story is acutely his own, it is also the story of every young person who has ever felt left out. A thought-provoking tale, hauntingly illustrated.

THE NAME OF THE GAME WAS MURDER, by Joan Lowery Nixon, Delacorte, 192 pages, $15, ages 12 and older

Fifteen-year-old Samantha Burns wants to be a writer and, hoping for some helpful writing tips, manages to get an invitation to the secluded island mansion of a favorite aunt’s husband, best-selling novelist Augustus Trevor. Also invited for the weekend are several celebrity guests: a senator, a famous actress, a sports commentator, a novelist, and Samantha’s own Aunt Thea.

Trevor soon reveals his plans for the weekend. He has written a manuscript revealing his guests’ darkest secrets, and he tells them he will remove from the manuscript the story of whoever can solve a set of clues. Samantha finds it all exciting until Trevor is bludgeoned to death, making the search for the clues and the murderer a potentially deadly one.

Nixon, author of more than 80 books for young readers and three-time winner of the Edgar Allen Poe Special Award, is adept at building suspense. Her characters form an interesting array of possible murder suspects, and Nixon plants red herrings to lead the reader astray.

Judy Eyerer lives in Bangor.