The dazzlingly unconventional Casson family is back in another spirited novel from Hilary McKay. This time youngest sister Rose is at the center of a story that finds the eight-year-old grieving the loss of a friend. Tom didn’t die; he’s just gone back to America. But to Rose he might as well be dead; they haven’t heard a word from him in months. No one seems to realize the depth of Rose’s anguish. And it’s no surprise, given how wrapped up everyone else is in their own personal dramas. Rose’s cousin Saffy is determined to find her biological father, whoever he may be. Her older sister Caddy is newly engaged and terrified of marriage. Her father breezes in and out from his townhouse in London whenever the fancy suits him or the latest crisis calls. Her mother remains, as always, loving and vague. (“Saint or more or less totally bonkers?” asks Saffy’s friend Sarah about Eve Casson, to which Saffy replies, “Probably both.”) Rose’s brother Indigo, the one most likely to know how Rose is feeling, has been preoccupied with David, a kid who used to beat him up and has now attached himself to Indigo and the Casson family. In fact it is David who realizes something is amiss with Rose when he sees her shoplifting in the village. Sensing a sadness in Rose that he understands without knowing the cause, David begins to watch out for her. It’s a new role for this former bully and one that he means to get right in a warm, outrageous, funny story about an unpredictable family and the friends they draw into their fold. (Ages 9–13)

Permanent Rose, set during a steamy British summer, carries over story lines from the first two books and adds insight to the Casson family history as Rose inadvertently discovers the identity of her adopted sister Saffy’s fa ther. The books in order of publication are: Saffy’s Angel (2001), Indigo’s Star (2003), Permanent Rose (2005), Caddy Ever After (2006), and Forever Rose (2007). 2006 USBBY-CBC Outstanding International Books List. djg

Originally published by Hodder Children’s Books Great Britain, in 2005.