Great book for young readers. I read it more or less to try to find some good books for our middle school girls at my library. ( )

I adored this book. Even though it's really a middle grade read and told through the perspective of a twelve year old girl, I ate it up. While her parents are in Peru, Margaret Rose Kane finds herself stuck in a summer camp, hating everything. Determined to not be swayed the "Queen" camp director, Margaret decides not to do anything. Whenever she's asked to participate she replies, "I prefer not to." Fed up, the director calls her uncles who are temporary guardians for her while her parents are out of the country. The uncles whisk her out of camp and take her back to their whimsical house., complete with art towers, on 19 Schuyler Place, which is exactly where Margaret Rose Kane wanted to be in the first place. Things aren't all hunky dory though, Margaret finds out that the towers have been condemned and will be torn down in weeks. Armed with her incorrigible attitude, she determines that her summer project will be to save the,. Great fun and narrated beautifully by Molly Ringwald. ( )

"I picked this up because I'd read several of Konigsburg's books when I was very young, and really liked them, esp. "Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth" and "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler."
What struck me though, is that although this book is marketed as a kids' book, probably because that's what the author is known for, it really isn't. Although the protagonist is 12, the story is told from the point of view of an adult looking back at being 12, not from the point of view of a 12-year-old, and I think that really shows in the themes of the book.
The protagonist, Margaret's parents is sent to summer camp while her parents are away on a trip. She was looking forward to it, but when she turns out to be the 'new girl' in a cabin of girls who already know each other, things don't start out that well and they rapidly get worse. Luckily, one of her two eccentric bachelor uncles shows up to face down the unsympathetic camp director and rescue her from the bullying. Margaret's delighted, because she really wanted to spend the summer with her uncles anyway, helping them work on the amazing sculpture towers in their back yard. Unfortunately, neighborhood gentrification has set in, and the towers are scheduled for demolition. The uncles think the situation is hopeless, but Margaret can't just let it happen...
This is not a perfect book. The summer camp segment at the beginning is kinda typical; and too long. And I felt that the 'redemption' of the bullying girls later in the book is too easy, and doesn't 'ring true.'
However, I read the whole thing in one sitting - I couldn't put it down. And it really stands out as a novel for the author's refusal to make things black & white, or to go with the easy 'happy ending.' People here are nuanced, with shaded layers of motivations; we feel that they are real people, even when we only glimpse them in passing. It deals deftly and accurately with picturing a young woman's first feelings of love, shows that one can and must do something about issues that one cares about - but also acknowledges the reality that even when you 'win,' not everything is likely to be perfect.
( )

Margaret Rose Kane quits summer camp, fed up with the repression of the place and her cabinmates' mind games. She stays instead with her two elderly, eccentric uncles. She learns that, due to urban development, the city intends to take down the impressive towers of pipes and crystal pendants that her uncles have created in their yard over the past 45 years. Margaret rallies the help of her uncles' former child neighbors who are now an art gallery owner and phone company executive. With their help, the pipe structure is moved to a hilltop where they serve as cell service towers.

This book had a fantastic beginning. The author is right on in describing how a camp experience can go terribly wrong, and how girls can play vicious mind games with each other in an attempt to be popular. As the story continued, my interest fizzled. I was still drawn to the author's portrayal of the 12 year-old main character and her quirky uncles, but the plot started to bore me. The ending was a real let down. After a slow build up, the ending was like crashing into a brick wall. It just stopped. It's like the author got tired of the story or ran out of pages. It's a shame for a book that started out so promising. ( )