From School Library Journal
Grade 7-10-- In the first chapter, Beth is crammed into the back seat of the car on a six-day cross-country trip with her mother and brother, bitterly bemoaning the dreary summer ahead at her estranged grandparents' house. Unfortunately for readers, summer is indeed interminable, and suspense and mystery never really keep the pages turning. Beth's mother is facing the demons that made her leave home at 17--the accidental death of a man she loved, her sister's fiance. Each sister blames the other for the ``murder,'' and the plot consists of uncovering the secrets from the past. All is tied up rather cavalierly at the end, with their father--Beth's grandfather--pretending he is responsible so the sisters can quit fighting. By that time, readers will have long abandoned the story: the red herrings are pink, the characters never really come to life, and the flashbacks are clunky. However, the steamy summer heat, the atmosphere of tension in the house, and the family dynamics are well-portrayed; and the message that truth may be less important than reconciliation comes through loud and clear. Overall, though, the weaknesses outweigh the strengths. --Kathy Fritts, Jesuit High School, Portland, OR
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Reiss's first novel, Time Windows (1991), was a well-wrought time fantasy involving a mother thwarted of self-realization, a pattern later revisited on occupants of the same house. The theme here is similar: two sisters are still trapped by the acrimony generated by the death of the man they both loved 20 years ago. When Hanny arrives to summer in Philadelphia with her children--Tom, 15, and Beth, 16, an aspiring artist who provides the point of view--they find gentle old Grandad, who still favors his younger daughter; vitriolic Grandmother, who's sure that Hanny and her kids can do nothing right; and alcoholic Aunt Iris, who's been embittered ever since her fianc‚ Clifton died in a fall during a stair-top tussle after Iris found him in bed with her teenage sister. Each sister has always believed the other pushed Clifton; Tom and Beth are united in their search for the truth. Without Time Windows' fantasy element, this plot founders on its lack of motivation. The characters are too simplistic to be believable; an extraordinary change of heart from all three older women after Grandad's transparently untrue confession (unsurprisingly, nobody pushed Clifton) is only the last unlikely straw. Meanwhile, promising themes like the role of art in various lives, or Beth's parallel infatuation with an older man, just fizzle out. Disappointing, but acceptable as popular fiction. (Fiction. 12-16) --
Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
