Barb and Dingbat's Crybaby Hotline »

Patrick Jennings is the author of many books for young readers, including the recent BookSense Children's Pick Out Standing in My Field.His Ike and Mem series was a success with the chapter book crowd, and Booklist observed in a starred review, "the writing is all the more telling in its spareness." He lives in Washington State.

B: Hello, is this Jeff?

J: Yeah. Who's this?

B: It's not important. I'm just a messenger. I've been asked to inform you that Viv doesn't want to go with you anymore. At all.

Welcome to Barb and Dingbat's Crybaby Hotline. Jeff can hardly believe it when he gets the second-hand news that his girlfriend is dropping him. And what's with Barb anyway—why does she keep calling him, and why does he get the feeling she's not telling him the whole truth?

VOYA

AGERANGE: Ages 11 to 15.

Presented entirely as telephone dialogue between two junior high students in 1975 through 1976, this novel begins with Barb Grimaldi telling Jeff Woolley, "I've been asked to inform you that Viv doesn't want to go with you anymore. At all." Viv is one of a series of girls in whom Jeff is interested, mainly for purposes of making out. Barb's caustic remarks skewer Jeff's cluelessness about girls and sex. Yet he must want to change because he keeps calling Barb back for more information and advice despite her sarcasm. She relishes heaping verbal abuse on Jeff as she tries to teach him that when a girl says no, she means no-and that girls are individuals and not a succession of interchangeable lips. Jeff rarely knows if what Barb tells him is true, including what girls have said about him or what she thinks of him. It is also uncertain whether Barb has a cat named Dingbat, a brother who was killed in Vietnam, and a mother in a wheelchair as a result of a nervous breakdown over her son's war death. It is an accomplishment to create full-bodied characters using only dialogue. Most junior high readers will tune into the zany, razor-sharp humor, enjoy the 1970s cultural references (e.g., Watergate, Pong, Aerosmith), and will be able to read the book in one sitting. Jeff's words are printed in boldface so the reader always knows who is speaking. The punchy dialogue, short chapters, and generous leading make the book a good selection for reluctant readers. Reviewer: Florence Munat
April 2008 (Vol. 31, No. 1)