HAs she did in Mick Harte Was Here, Park introduces an uncommonly sympathetic and articulate young narrator who lightly relays a story with tragic underpinnings. Here, eighth-grader Jake Moon recounts his beloved grandfather's diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease and the dramatic changes his illness brings to Jake's life. Since his infancy, Jake and his single mother have lived with big-hearted Skelly, who """"had a way of believing in you, that made you want to believe in yourself."""" Never maudlin, even infusing sturdy humor into some of his sad observations, Jake poignantly describes Skelly's gradual debilitation as Alzheimer's robs him of his memory and brings on a heartbreaking reversal of roles between adult and child. Park subtly and affectingly reveals Jake's growing maturity and acceptance of an awful inevitability. The plot culminates in Jake's eighth-grade graduation, when the boy rushes to his grandfather's side after the old man wanders onto the auditorium stage and starts to cry in his confusion. At one point in the story, Skelly breaks into a huge grin when served his favorite breakfast and Jake comments: """"It was one of those moments that can make you smile and break your heart at the same time."""" Readers will discover many such moments in this memorable novel. Ages 9-12. (Sept.)

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. (Reviewed June 1 & 15, 2000)

Jake's grandfather has Alzheimer's disease, and Jake, who once idolized him, now feels nothing but shame as he dismisses publicly, and resents privately, this helpless old man. Though Jake's guilt is more powerfully depicted than his eventual reconciliation, the novel allows readers to see the uncompromising world of Alzheimer's disease through the eyes of a likable and very human narrator.

Jake Moon's grandfather Skelly used to be the emotional fixer in Jake's household, the one who soothed his hurts and helped him through hard times. But when Jake is in third grade, Skelly begins forgetting things and by the time Jake is ready to graduate from eighth grade Skelly's Alzheimer's has progressed to the point where he is barely aware of his surroundings. Jake learns from Skelly's doctor that Alzheimer's disease has three stages, "each . . . worse than the one before it," which Jake thinks of as "(1) sad, (2) sadder, and (3) the saddest thing you've ever seen." The book chronicles not only Skelly's deterioration, but also the effect it has on Jake and his relationships with other family members and friends. As Skelly's condition worsens, their roles reverse and Jake finds himself caring for the man who once cared for him. That, coupled with the fact that his grandfather has become a tremendous embarrassment—at a sleepover, Skelly shows up in Jake's room without any pants or underpants, for example—causes Jake to disengage from friends and extracurricular activities. Park's convincing first-person narration rings true, and she is particularly adept at rendering Jake's complex emotional journey, which encompasses love, confusion, sadness, anger, embarrassment, shame, and finally acceptance. The book has some funny moments, but it's one of Park's darker, more poignant creations; readers expecting a Skinnybones type laugh-a-thon will be sadly disappointed. Nonetheless, Park has produced a perceptive book that should prove useful to children who must navigate similar waters. (Fiction. 9-12)

PW gave a starred review to this "memorable" novel narrated by an eighth-grader whose beloved grandfather has Alzheimer's disease. Ages 9-12. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(June)

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.