Review by Booklist Review
Eleven-year-old Polly has no friends at school. Her best friend is Harry, a unique rhubarb plant on her family's midwestern farm, where it rains miraculously at the same time every Monday, and tourists come to enjoy a giant, amusement-park umbrella ride that her family has built. Polly and Harry communicate: he nods when he agrees with her and swats her with his leaves when he is angry. And Polly can talk with bugs, as well as plants. Her peaceful life on the farm changes, though, when the rain stops suddenly and her brother gets deathly ill. Does she have the power to save both the farm and her sibling? Polly's wry interaction with Harry and other plants and wild creatures is the best part of this debut fantasy that has an environmental slant. The water conservation message at its core will make young, activist readers cheer for Polly as she works with friends, and sometimes with enemies, to bring back the rain and save the world.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
With a sense of magic that recalls Ingrid Law's Savvy, this bighearted coming-of-age story stars 11-year-old Polly Peabody, who lives with her family on a farm like no other. At Rupert's Rhubarb Farm, magic abounds: chocolate rhubarb flourishes; it rains at 1 p.m. every Monday; there's a lake in which no one can drown; and tourists clamor for rides on the giant umbrella. But when a mysterious mist descends, things go haywire: Polly's brother, Freddy, gets sick, her Aunt Edith threatens to sell the farm, and Polly gets in a fight with her best friend, Harry (a chocolate rhubarb plant). While Aunt Edith encourages Polly to read Emerson and look for opportunities away from the farm, in her heart Polly knows that she belongs nowhere else, and she must overcome her numerous fears (like of the farm's giant insects and slimy "slugsand") to discover her own gift and save the farm. "I have to believe that something good can always happen. In other words, I believe in magic," says Polly, whose oddball traits and sensitivity make her a lovable, sympathetic narrator. Van Cleve's debut is emotionally subtle and action packed with a highly memorable setting. Ages 8-12. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-On Polly Peabody's family farm, the extraordinary is the norm and the rhubarb tastes like chocolate. The 11-year-old can communicate with some of the plants and huge insects, although she sometimes can't understand what they say. Diamonds have sprouted from the ground, and there is a lake in which no one can drown. Most important, in an otherwise parched Midwestern area, it rains on the farm every Monday at precisely one o'clock. Suddenly the rains stop and everything begins to die, and Polly's beloved home must be sold. When her brother becomes desperately ill, Polly believes that the rain and his health are cosmically connected. The plants and insects become her allies as she battles against time to solve the mystery of the rain, learn the magic of the farm, and keep her family home. Kathleen Van Cleve drew upon her childhood on a farm to create this wonderfully imaginative, yet believable tale (Dial, 2010) of a young girl who is almost overwhelmed by bullies, a fear of insects, her impulsive personality, and the threat of losing everything. Although she feels out of place among her classmates and often doubts her own abilities, Polly finds the courage and resourcefulness to decipher the farm's secrets and to restore balance to the farm and her family with the help of some unusual friends, Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance, some grandmotherly advice, and an exceptional science teacher. Maria Cabezas's expressive narration aptly delivers Polly's thoughts and emotions. She varies her tone just enough to make the other characters' dialogue unique, but Polly's voice is appropriately the strongest. A satisfying coming-of-age tale with an environmental message.-MaryAnn Karre, Horace Mann Elementary School, Binghamton, NY (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Eleven-year-old Polly Peabody believes in the magic on her family's rhubarb farm, complete with enchanted lake. When a mysterious mist grows over the lake, it stops raining, the plants begin to wilt, and her brother becomes ill. Polly must overcome her fears to save her home. A delightfully quirky and original story with enjoyably complex characters. Copyright 2010 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Narrating this rambling fantasy is 11-year-old Polly Peabody, whose family owns a magical rhubarb (chocolate and medicinal varieties) farm, open to the public with a lake, umbrella ride and other attractions. Although the surrounding farmland is dry, the Peabody farm is watered by a rain shower on Mondays at precisely one p.m. But one Monday, the rain stops, the rhubarb wilts and Polly's brother falls mysteriously ill. It's up to Polly to figure out the cause and heal the farm, but she has plenty of help. All the plants, plus assorted insects and slugs, are her friends, spelling out words and pointing their leaves to guide her. As children, we fantasize that the world revolves around us; in Polly's case, it's true. And with infantile selfishness, Polly uses her godlike powers only to benefit her family's farm and business. The farm plants and animals bear no resemblance to their real-world counterparts. Despite references to genetics, laboratory research and classroom-science experiments, the novel ignores fundamentals of the natural worldchief among them, the interconnected and vulnerable web of life. (Fantasy. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
