HOW CAN YOU LOVE SOMEONE AND RESENT HIM AT THE SAME TIME?Jake Moon used to love the time he spent with his grandfather, Skelly, but that was before Skelly got Alzheimer's disease. All of a sudden, it's as if Skelly is the kid, and Jake has to be the grown-up. Much of Skelly's care becomes Jake's responsibility, and that doesn't leave much time for a life of his own.Then, one day Jake rebels, and the unthinkable happens. Has Jake discovered too late how much his grandfather still means to him? Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

PW gave a starred review to this "memorable" novel narrated by an eighth-grader whose beloved grandfather has Alzheimer's disease. Ages 9-12. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 4-6-Three boys watch an old man teeter on the side of a dumpster. Two of them taunt him until he acknowledges them and they realize that he doesn't understand their insults. The third boy is Jake, the confused man's grandson. This short and moving novel deals with his relationship with his grandfather as Skelly's Alzheimer's slowly worsens. The youngster changes considerably from when readers meet him in third grade until his graduation from eighth grade. He starts out looking after his grandfather an hour a day, a job that becomes more and more onerous. He is embarrassed by Skelly's increasingly erratic behavior and becomes alienated from his friends. His relationships with his wealthy aunt and cousin are also strained because Jake feels that they are buying their way out of caregiving. Jake is a well-rounded and believable character surrounded by colorful and equally realistic supporting characters. His acceptance of Skelly's condition and the evolving relationships in his family signal a hopeful start to the next phase of his life. This novel demonstrates the horror of Alzheimer's disease, both to the afflicted person and to the loved ones, and it is written in an accessible style that will appeal to a wide audience.-Betsy Fraser, Calgary Public Library, Canada Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr. 5^-8. At one point in this story, eighth-grader Jake Moon throws John Steinbeck's The Pearl across the room, overwhelmed by its hopelessness. Jake's story is also painful reading, though Park's wonderful way with humor helps enormously in deflating some of its depressing aspects. The book begins when Jake, accompanied by some friends, sees his grandfather, Skelly (who has Alzheimer's disease), sitting in a garbage dumpster but doesn't acknowledge him. Jake then looks back, describing life with his affectionate and kind grandfather whose Alzheimer's eventually changes everything. For all the wit of this first-person novel, Park does not flinch when it comes to showing how a thousand tiny cuts of work, worry, sorrow, and embarrassment slowly come to diminish Skelly in Jake's eyes. The book also clearly shows Jake's suffering: he stops inviting friends over and crawls into a shell, and when he finally becomes angry and rebels, his act of defiance almost turns into a disaster. This has a brighter ending than The Pearl, but Jake's words about the stages of Alzheimer's will linger: "sad, sadder, and the saddest thing you've ever seen." --Ilene Cooper From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Barbara Park Barbara Park spent her first two years of college at Rider University in New Jersey and her last two years at the University of Alabama, from where she graduated.

She began writing children's books after she had children of her own, since 1981, the first of which was called "Operation: Dump the Chump." It was not her first book to be published though, that honor went to "Don't Make Me Smile," followed but "Operation:

The first book of the Junie B. Jones series was published in 1992. Since then, at least two new Junie B. books have been written a year. And are what she is best known for. Park also writes books for older children that deal with more in depth issues.

(Bowker Author Biography) Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Chapter 1 The Twist
Chapter 2 Thor, God of Thunder
Chapter 3 Be-hinds and Other Family Matters
Chapter 4 Lucky Duck
Chapter 5 Just Say No
Chapter 6 The Nut
Chapter 7 The Pearl
Chapter 8 Sinking and Floating
Chapter 9 Officer Happy
Chapter 10 Sherman Kelly
Chapter 11 Candle Burns
Chapter 12 Graduation Boy

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