Fourteen-year-old Penelope learns about her family, friends, and self when her grandmother leads her to an elderly, recluse, gypsy neighbor derisively nicknamed the Queen of Sheba. Penelope's eighty-five-year-old grandmother defends the Queen against constant taunting. When Penelope's school assignment requires an interesting story about her family history, the grandmother reveals that the Queen is her lifelong friend who lost her family in a flu epidemic, came to America for a new life, and was deserted by her new family in hard times. The grandmother is unable to complete the story when she suffers a stroke and dies. Penelope fills the gaps with information from the grandmother's belongings, the gypsy's Jewish landlord, and historical research. Uncovering how prejudice and persecution affected gypsy lives, she realizes the importance of her grandmother's loyalty and her loyalty to her own friends. The Queen, like the grandmother, falls sick and dies. Penelope helps take care of her property and discovers the beautiful eggs that the woman decorated and kept secret. As she investigates, Penelope learns that her own seemingly most confident friend uses her appearance to cope with personal shame and that Penelope's parents have selflessly focused on Penelope and her grandmother. This simple story intertwines complicated issues of friendship, prejudice, empathy, family, and identity in down-to-earth, believable situations. A good detective story as well, it will inspire middle school and junior high girls to examine their own relationships and prejudices.-Lucy Schall.

Gr 6 Up-Penny and her friends have always taunted an eccentric old gypsy whom they call the Queen of Sheba. When a teacher assigns a history project, Penny interviews her grandmother, who tells her about her youth and about the Queen of Sheba, whom she once knew. When Penny's grandmother has a heart attack and dies, the woman comes to pay her respects. Soon after, she dies. Penny and a friend go to her apartment and discover that she had decorated eggs-hundreds of them. In the end, the teen comes to realize that this shy woman did not deserve their teasing. The novel's brevity leaves little room for much traditional character or plot development, but reluctant readers might find it just their cup of tea.-Catherine Ensley, Latah County Free Library District, Moscow, ID Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.