Criss Cross, Double Cross: Sophie «Alias Star Girl» to the Rescue

Kristin Butcher writes novels for young adults. Her most recent works
are Cairo Kelly and the Mann, The Gamma War, and The Tomorrow Tunnel.

Sophie Le Grange is a 10-year-old girl whose imagination, curiosity, and
tomboyish tendencies have a way of landing her in one jackpot after
another. The story begins in August of 1949 in Mallairdville, British
Columbia, where Sophie lives with her mother, father, four brothers, and
grandmother. Theirs is a close-knit francophone family, and though
Sophie’s home life is happy, cultural differences sometimes result in
teasing by other children. Therefore, one of the items on Sophie’s
personal agenda is to find a friend. She also wants to be in the
limelight like her super heroine idol, Star Girl. The other driving
force in Sophie’s life is her desire to own a bicycle. With these
three things motivating her, Sophie jumps from one disaster to another.
She gets stranded on a rope swing, while ice cream she was fetching
melts in the hot sun. She finds herself clinging to the eaves of the
roof when she tries to retrieve her Star Girl ball. She throws a rock
and makes enemies of some local children. But when a crisis occurs and
Sophie rescues her sworn enemy, all her dreams are realized.

Though predictable, this is a charming story. In this sequel to Sophie
Sea to Sea, Norma Charles has done a commendable job of capturing the
era. Sophie is delightful, and her innocent blunderings are sure to win
readers’ hearts. They’ll see the trouble coming before Sophie does,
but unable to warn her, they will endure each disaster right along with
her. Recommended.