Dear Papa, written by Anne Ylvisaker. Candlewick Books, Random House. 2002. $8.00 ages 9 and up

""Sophie, you look wonderful! And how your children have grown.Why haven't we seen you out in the yard yet this spring?" Here she paused and smiled her red lips at Mr. Frank, then looked back at Mama. "Anything new, dear?" She raised her eyebrows way up and leaned close to Mama when she said it. That's why I never played with Beverly. Always on gossip patrol."

I have mentioned in earlier posts, and I am sure you have asked yourself the same thing at some time or other..."what question do you ask to get yourself writing?" Anne Ylvisaker says her work often begins with a question. “Dear Papa grew out of two questions,” she says. “Why would a nine year old write a letter to her father after he'd died? And what would she say to him?”

Whatever questions she asks, we are lucky that they set her on a path to write books for us (and for herself, I suspect). Dear Papa is her first published novel, and I read it because I have so enjoyed each of the others...Little Klein, Luck of the Buttons, and Button Down. Every one has been a joy to read for the characters, their adventures, and the setting.

Isabelle's story is told in a series of letters, first to her papa who died, then to an assortment of others. They begin in September 1943, one year after her father died. Her school assignment is letter writing and she wants her Papa to know the many things that have happened since his untimely death. With each letter, we learn more about the Anderson family, their neighbors and Isabelle herself.

She has a great voice, at times humorous and outspoken, at other times contrite and very sad. In a family with five children, life can be difficult. There is not enough money, too much confusion, and a sense of hopelessness for her mother. When the three older girls (Irma, Inez and Isabelle) are sent to stay with their mother's brothers, Isabelle is distraught. She knows her mother needs her help with the two younger children (Ian and Ida). She is alone in a quiet house, with only her aunt and uncle. She is constantly in search of a way to get back home.

Finally, she decides she is leaving and leave she does. Once home, she finds that much has changed. She is angry that her mother has taken a full time job with Mr. Frank, is living in his home and even has the audacity to marry him.He is Catholic! She is adamant that she will not adjust. She wants to be loyal to her father and his memory. As is wont to happen, she warms to her stepfather, her mother's happiness, her siblings' acceptance of this new way of life. As days go by, the letters written are less frequent and soon, she is all grown up:

"I am an old maid of twenty-three, but life has been too busy for settling down as Irma and Inez say I should. I've been abroad and I finally found my vocation, though I guess if really found me years ago. People pay me to write."