Sarah Frances Hardy

Jacket: Izzy’s sister Rose loves pink. In fact, she’s planned an all-pink birthday party, where guests will wear fairy wings and tutus. NOT IZZY! She is puzzled by pink, and she’s planned her own party in the attic. Her guests will be ghosts and spiders and monster dolls. Rose decides to crash the party that her magic wand really works.

Rose likes fairies, princesses, and the color pink. Izzy wears black, has a black cat, and instead of a doll, she has a green, snout-nosed monster. Today is Rose’s birthday party and all the guests are wearing pink fairy wings and pink tutus, except for young brother Fletcher, who wears only the pink wings. All the partygoers carry a gold magic wand.

Izzy, wearing a black dress, hates pink and does not understand Rose’s fascination with the color. She tries to attend the party but Rose kicks her out until she puts on the pink tutu and wings. Izzy balks and then decides to have a spooky party in the attic—no pink allowed!

First, Mrs. Bitter must change from her pink outfit to one that is purple. Izzy collects her green snout-nosed, yellow-bellied monster with the candy-striped horns. The black cat follows Izzy everywhere, so she will be attending too. In the attic, Izzy decorates with dried roses, her favorite tea set, and a few creepy-crawling spiders.

Soon, Izzy’s invisible friend V arrives and the party can commence. V sits in the haunted chair next to Rose, Mrs. Bitter sits at the end of the table, and the monster and the black cat sit on the table. Izzy is having a delightful time until Rose crashes the party with a plate of pink frosted cupcakes.

No. Thank. You. Do not give those to my monster!
Oh, look, here’s an empty seat for me!

Rose sits down in the haunted chair occupied by invisible V. When told this, she jumps up and looks all around for V—who has left the party. Izzy tells Rose to leave her perfect party.

This isn’t a real tea party.
Well, you’re not a real fairy.
I most certainly am.
That’s not even a real wand.

Rose tells Izzy her wand is real and will show her. Izzy grabs onto the wand and the two begin grappling for control. Suddenly there is a zap. The black cat is gone and in her place is a pink and black dragon.

Puzzled by Pink is the classic story of two quarrelling sisters. The two are night and day, black and pink. On the day of Izzy’s party, the differences between the two girls cause a rift. Each is in their own corner of the house having fun with friends, until one sister kind of, sort of misses the other.

I really like Ms. Hardy’s take on this over used scenario. It is fun and a little twisted with invisible V flying in the window to attend Rose’s creepy, spooky party. Ms. Hardy understands the mechanics of sisterhood. The girls are different, want their own personality, but in the end, do not like doing things without the other. With fairies, ghosts, and dragons, Puzzled by Pink brings this classic sister situation to the twenty-first century.

The illustrations are cute. Depicted in their favorite colors, Izzy and Rose could not be more different, yet it is easy to see these two girls are sisters. The whimsical illustrations add to the fun of the text. There is even a little brother, who seems caught in the middle. Bright pinks and matter-of-fact blacks give the reader an instant read on each girl’s personality.

Puzzled by Pink is definitely a book for young girls, especially if those girls are sisters and as different as black and pink.

book courtesy of the author.
Originally reviewed at Kid Lit Reviews: http://kid-lit-reviews.com/2012/07/28/puzzled-by-pink-by-sarah-frances-hardy/… (plus d'informations)