For years, 11-year-old Matisse Jones has been painting perfect copies of masterpieces in the local art museum, and he secretly dreams of exhibiting his own compositions in a museum some day. After an exhibit of Henri Matisse's art opens, an unexpected opportunity arises, and Matisse can't resist impetuously doing something that he knows is wrong: replacing an original with one of his works. Bragg creates plenty of suspenseful, often comedic scenarios as Matisse, with his friend Toby's help, tries to deal with his guilt and fear of getting caught. This entertaining debut features a likable protagonist whose breezy, humorous first-person narrative explores themes of artistic inspiration and finding a place within one's family. Readers will enjoy the diverse, memorable characters, including Matisse's mom, a museum security head; his dad, an enthusiastic businessman in a barbeque company; and his purple-obsessed sister. The appended author note includes a brief biography of Henri Matisse (and his son Pierre), as well as information on real-life art-museum heists.

Jane Peck transforms herself from a hoyden to a refined young lady, then follows her fiancé to the Oregon frontier, where conditions are more primitive than she expects. Predictably, "Boston Jane" sheds her useless refinements and adapts to frontier life with the help of the Chinook tribe members, but she is an endearing heroine. Readers who enjoyed Charlotte Doyle will forgive the uneven telling and enter into Boston Jane's predicament.

It's etiquette versus exigency in 19th-century Washington Territory. Jane Peck wasn't always a lady; until the age of 11, she was the very picture of a hoyden, terrorizing the neighborhood with rotten apples and manure pats. But prodded by the censure of the ladylike Sally Biddle, and with the encouragement of her physician father's apprentice, William of the dazzling smile, she enrolls in Miss Hepplewhite's Young Ladies Academy. In the space of four years, she goes from being an independent and opinionated, if messy, girl to a very proper young lady, much to the dismay of her independent and opinionated Papa. But when she sails from Philadelphia to Shoalwater Bay to join William, she finds that he has gone, and she must make a place for herself among rough mountain men and the Chinook Indians, none of whom give a hoot for the accomplishments of a young lady. Holm ( Our Only May Amelia , 1999) gives readers an original, likable narrator in Jane and a good-humored, rip-roaring romantic adventure, with colorful secondary characters to spare. These include Mr. James Swan, who left his family in Boston to pursue anthropological study (an actual historical figure), and the blue-eyed Jehu, the sailor who encourages Jane to revise her notion of proper young ladyhood. A couple of subplots are left hanging or seem out of place: the obvious decline in Jane's father's health goes unresolved, and the introduction of the ghost of Jane's traveling companion does little to further the plot. An unfortunately young-looking cover illustration will limit the usefulness of this otherwise highly enjoyable historical romp. (author's note) (Fiction. 10-14)

A 16-year-old blossoming society lady must abandon etiquette in order to survive on the frontier. "The series of challenges that transform Jane into an outspoken, self-reliant young woman forms a tale that readers will long remember," said <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">PW. Ages 10-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Sept.)

Gr 6-10-Jane's doctor father has allowed his motherless daughter the freedom to do what she wants without restraints of propriety and etiquette. She enjoys a life unusual for a well-bred girl of Philadelphia in the 1840s. However, when she is 11, her conversations with a young medical student result in her decision to enroll in an academy for young ladies and learn to behave in a proper manner. William leaves Philadelphia for the Washington Territory and when Jane turns 15, he asks her to join him there as his wife. Jane and Mary, one of the servant girls, board the Lady Luck for the treacherous and unpleasant trip to the far northwest. Mary dies en route and the indomitable Jane must face the unknown alone. Things get worse when she arrives. William is off negotiating Indian treaties, there are no white women in the settlement, and she must share lodgings with men who have little knowledge of cleanliness and even less about how to treat a "lady." In the spirit of Avi's The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Orchard, 1990), the strong, believable protagonist proves her mettle in the way she handles the adversities she meets. The author's portrayal of pioneer/Chinook relationships is sympathetic as the young woman finds true friendship with them. The only jarring note is the use of Mary's ghost to let Jane know that she is making a mistake in upholding her loyalty to shallow, stuffy William. It is an unnecessary device that adds little to an exceptionally good book. As a storyteller, Holm is superb.-Janet Hilbun, formerly at Sam Houston Middle School, Garland, TX Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.