Yuck, a Love Story

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

A delightful tale for youngsters, Yuck is built on fantasy and mixed
emotions. Austin likes to dress as his favorite hero, Impossible Man.
When a girl named Amy moves in next door, he is not pleased and his
efforts to impress her fail miserably. Austin is invited to Amy’s
birthday party, and he decides to lasso the moon for her gift. This
leads to various difficulties and adventures, as he gets hooked on the
moon and then on a truck, a train, and an airplane flying west: “By
the time he got back home, Austin had been to twenty-two countries. A
polar bear had eaten part of the moon in the Arctic. It was a bit soggy
and there was a dent on one side, but Austin had the moon back just in
time.” Amy’s admiration for the moon, which Austin had tied to a
tree in her backyard, draws the two together, as does her birthday cake
and their mutual fondness for the word “yuck.”

Marie-Louise Gay’s illustrations have won many awards and may well
garner another with the whimsical double-page spreads in this very
enjoyable picture book. Don Gillmor, an award-winning journalist, travel
writer, and children’s author, has written a fine story for young
children who are beginning to explore relationships outside the family.
Highly recommended.