The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls

Starred review from November 13, 2006
Primavera (Auntie Claus
) takes her time getting to the heart of her tale, narrated by a humorous yet disarmingly wise omniscient narrator. In the town of Sherbet, four girls ("all about ten or eleven years old") live on Gumm Street: prudent Prudence Gumm, bookish and severe; Franny Muggs, voyeur and daredevil; Cat Lemonjello, whose mother wrote a hipster version of the I Ching ("Darkness is coming at you, dude"); and Ivy Diamond, new to the neighborhood, whose broken-mirror-imposed seven years of bad luck are soon to be up. Ivy holds the key to the story; piano teacher Mr. Staccato (who claims to be 122 years old) tells her that she is the rightful heir of two red shoes—laced with mystical powers and tied to Hollywood's production of The Wizard of Oz
(Judy Garland fans will appreciate the coy use of her given name, Frances Gumm). When a fierce storm rips through town, the girls find themselves facing a wicked witch named Cha Cha who wants those shoes. From there it's a postmodern, surreal reworking of Baum's classic, significantly buoyed by the author's cheerful pen-and-inks, which recall the work of Jules Feiffer. In a nod to the Hogwarts hierarchy, the girls' school is divided into four houses, each named for one of the founder's favorite sandwiches, and instead of a sorting hat, a "large glowing computer" puts the girls where they will "find unique talent." Despite the author's overriding emphasis on humor, Primavera is at her best in occasional flashes of poignancy—as in the omniscient narrator's breathtaking passage about the emotional power of family heirlooms. Ages 8-12.

December 11, 2006
Though her voice here is predominantly melodic, Delaney pleasingly musters a bit of acid (of the 10-year-old girl variety) as well as a sense of mystery befitting Primavera's quirky, magic-tinged adventure. Ivy and her mother, cursed by seven years' bad luck (brought on by a broken mirror), move to a relative's spooky old house on Gumm Street in the idyllic candy-colored town of Sherbet. Ivy is initially jazzed at having girls her own age around until she finds out that new neighbors and classmates Pru, Cat and Franny already dislike each other and seem to dislike her. But the girls are brought together for a most mystifying and entertaining journey (à la L. Frank Baum's Oz) when Ivy discovers the ruby slippers worn in the original Hollywood production of The Wizard of Oz
at the home of her 122-year-old piano teacher, Mr. Staccato. The blend of action, fantasy, humor and real-life girl behavior will have listeners eager for Primavera's next installment to this planned series. Ages 8-up.