From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6-- Every eighth-grade class graduating from Poor Farm Road Elementary spends a day at the end of the school year making pillows while listening to tales. These pillows are said to give students dreams for the rest of their lives. Now the 100-year-old building is about to sink back into the spring beneath it, and the current eighth grade must make pillows not only for themselves, but for all of the younger students. As they work, various people arrive from times and places out of the school's history, spinning tales before they go. Readers encounter in these stories some of Gorog's best work--her buildup of the school's past and the first few tales have a lovely, otherworldly quality that is reminiscent of peak Margaret Mahy. Unfortunately, the rest are uneven. Some, such as the one about a dog choking on the severed finger of a burglar, seem to have been added to appeal to those who like being scared or grossed out; others (some of the better ones) are true stories. The connecting threads of the school and the pillows hold together well, and make a good framework to tie the whole together. While Gorog never fulfills the promise of the first few pages, the book may work with fans of Sachar's ``Wayside School'' series (Avon). --JoAnn Rees, Sunnyvale Public Library, CA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Illuminated by sudden twists and magical transformations, these linked stories from the author of Winning Scheherazade (p. 392) will have middle readers wondering if their schools and teachers aren't more than they seem. Every year, graduating eighth-graders at the old school on Poor Farm Road have sewn keepsake pillows. This time they have to hurry, for the building is collapsing--the well over which it was built wants it back--so, with the help of three very senior members of the faculty (Ms. Oakes, Ms. Laurel, and old librarian Ms. Holly), the students work away, matter-of-factly accepting the apparitions that appear one after another to share a memory, a memorable character, an urban legend, or a campfire story. A headless ``Silver Skier'' swoops down the slope to snatch a loved one away; a ring of ``Gypsy Gold'' brings loss in one tale, but solace to lonely ``Myra'' in another; the title story explains why manners are important near a well; ``An Old, Often Retold Story of Revenge'' is funny and satisfying, but definitely not delicious; while other tales feature ghostly touches, just deserts, or hilarious slapstick. The main plot is more than a device to bridge the stories, it's strong enough to stand on its own. Appealing and well-told. (Fiction. 11-15) --
Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
