Bartoletti, Susan Campbell Down the Rabbit Hole: The Diary of Pringle Rose, 320 p. Scholastic, 2013. $13. Violence: PG.
Pringle Rose, 14, is at the mercy of her indifferent uncle and horrid aunt, after her parents are killed in a carriage accident. When they talk of committing her brother Gideon to an asylum, Pringle Rose decides that it is time to run, so they sneak away to Chicago, to hopefully find refuge with an old friend of their mother’s. Instead, however, the pair find themselves living with some people they met on the train. Just as life seems to be settling in, Pringle Rose learns an awful truth, is severely betrayed and then the whole town is engulfed in fire.
I don’t know if the authors are limited to a certain amount of pages with this format, but I felt cheated once the fire appeared on the scene. All of the angst and problems resolved themselves too quickly and in too pat a manner. The prologue only makes it worse as it involves Pringle Rose’s very indifferent attitude to the San Francisco Earthquake several years later. Up until that end, however, everything is interesting. I just wanted more and I know that Bartoletti is fully capable of delivering.
EL, MS – OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher
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