Publishers Weekly
Singer-songwriter Williams makes her children's book debut with a novel that unfortunately seems to share some of the awkward growing pains of its tween protagonist. Eleven-year-old Amalee has grown used to her unusual extended family-the four tighter-than-siblings college friends of her father, David. Since Amalee's mother died when she was just a baby, David and "the gang" have rallied, each armed with their own special skill, to give Amalee a fully rounded life. But things aren't going according to plan as Amalee starts middle school with nary a friend her own age in sight. And when her father falls seriously ill, Amalee feels like unraveling, too, until she grows to appreciate her father's pals for who they really are and how much they love her. Williams's premise is ripe with dramatic opportunity. However, she spends so much time creating a cast of slightly quirky players that the emotional undercurrent gets a bit diluted. As a result, readers may be taken with some of Amalee's quiet yet keen observations about her father and his friends, and then feel disappointed at the end when they realize that they have learned surprisingly little about Amalee herself. A couple of subplots devolve into cliches and, in what many readers may find frustrating, David's diagnosis/illness is never revealed or explained, other than to tell Amalee he has "something like the flu, but it's in his spine." Williams's fans will likely want to explore this departure, but will find that it lacks the storytelling flair of her songs. Ages 9-14. (June) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal
Gr 5-7-"In some ways, I'd grown up with five parents," the title character says, referring to her father and his "four big goofy" longtime friends, who have helped to raise her since her mother decamped and then died. In this engaging first-person narrative, 11-year-old Amalee relates the details of her life, from peer issues and teacher problems at school to her father's sudden illness. With him in bed and seriously sick, the four friends take turns caring for both father and daughter, and in the process each one of them realizes his or her potential. Although the end is weighted by a lengthy hypnosis scene in which therapist friend Joyce helps Amalee and her father express their deepest feelings, readers will be cheering for this likable protagonist.-Susan Patron, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
In her debut, singer/songwriter Williams nails the voice of sixth-grader Amalee, who is the only child of a single father. His best friends, whom she perceives as a group of misfits, surround her. A waiter who longs to be a chef, a therapist who will burst into tears at the slightest provocation, a painter who is still finding herself as well as her school secretary. As adolescence descends upon her, Amalee finds herself helplessly becoming a mean girl. She stands by silently as her new friends Halley and Ellen snidely pick on others and she blurts out rude statements to her father's friends. In the midst of this inner torment, her father takes ill; bedridden and frighteningly weak, his friends rally, taking care of him and the uncommunicative Amalee. Despite the fear and anxiety of her daily life, Amalee begins to accept the help of these adults who come together around her dad. She begins to understand their remarkable friendship and begins to create one of her own. (Fiction. 9-12)
NOVEMBER 2011 - AudioFile
Dar Williams has sung often of adolescent struggles. Narrating her young adult novel, she blends these themes with a cadence that strengthens her reading. Eleven-year-old Amalee juggles normal fears of middle school acceptance with the fact that she’s hiding her father’s life-threatening illness. Notes of fear and despair ring true in both Williams’s story and narration. She also portrays Amalee’s father’s four misfit buddies from his college days. Williams gives authenticity to all these eccentric characters through Amalee’s believable perceptions. Initially, Williams depicts the whining complaints that are typical of teens, but gradually she projects a shift in tone and mood that dramatizes Amalee’s eventual appreciation of the unique individuals in her life and what they teach her about real friendship. S.W. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
