Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
In Flying South, Alice acts on the lessons she learns by watching the people around her like the roses in her garden and passes "the test" of standing up for what she believes in. Alice is a vulnerable and rather naïve eleven year old Virginian in the summer of 1968, who has been raised more by the black housekeeper Edna and white gardener Doc, than by her mother who plays tennis at the country club as she pursues a future husband. Alice, her mother, and Doc, and even her new friend Bridget are well-rounded characters. Only Edna seems one-dimensional. The details of Charlottesville in 1968, the changing roles of women and blacks, Alice's courage, and her mother's are moving and ring true in the quiet, satisfying novel. 2003, HarperCollins, $15.99. Ages 8 to 10.

Linda Ruble (Children's Literature)
The Civil Rights Act may have passed in 1964, but by 1968, in the state of Virginia, some things are only beginning to change, and eleven-year-old Alice has a front-row seat. Her mother, a widow, is looking for a new husband and spends more time with friends at the country club than she does with Alice. Although Alice tries to devise ways to capture her mother's attention, she usually spends most of her time with Edna, their black cook, who also raised Alice's mother, and with Doc, their ancient, cranky gardener. Doc believes that life is made up of a series of tests designed to develop a person's character, and he shares his views on racial tolerance with Alice while she helps him prune his prize-winning roses. He believes that Alice's mother is failing her tests, and he wants Alice to do better. When her mother's new boyfriend, Mr. Barker, arranges for Alice to socialize with his niece, Bridget, Alice faces a number of tests in which she must decide the meaning of real loyalty, how silence can be mistaken for agreement, and ultimately, what she truly believes. The story occasionally bogs down under some heavy-handed moralizing and forced political dialogue, but Flying South is an interesting tale that proves that it takes more than legislation to change attitudes. 2003, HarperCollins Publishers, $15.99. Ages 8 to 12.

Diane Frook (Children's Literature)
In the year 1968, America is undergoing a civil re-birth. And just as America struggles to define its place in a new social order, so does ten-year-old Alice struggle to understand her place in her own life. With her father dead, Alice longs all the more for a close relationship with her mother, who is unfortunately preoccupied with finding a "good" husband. Meanwhile, Alice's awakening ethics rebel against the racial intolerance and social snobbery she encounters in her upper-crust Virginia world. It is through her offbeat but loving relationship with the family's aging gardener, Doc, that Alice learns the importance of having principles and sticking to them. Speaking of Virginia's relatively isolated and protected society, Alice says, "Change is going to come whether they like it or not." The only protection is a clear conscience. Ultimately, it is Alice's brave stance against her mother's weakness that provides the catalyst that draws the two closer together. Alice's two main relationships--the one she has with Doc and the one she wants with her mother--are skillfully juxtaposed in this sensitively written novel of individual discovery. It also shows how national movements, though they may seem distant today, were very real--and very personal--to the people who lived through them. 2003, HarperCollins Children's Books/HarperCollins Publishers, $15.99. Ages 9 to 12.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2003 (Vol. 71, No. 9))
It's the sultry summer of '68 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Eleven-year-old April has moved back to the family homestead where she lives with her mother and the white gardener and black cook, Doc and Edna. Doc raises roses and also raises Alice and her mother, Grace. It's hard to say what's stronger at the beginning of the story, the smell of Doc's roses or the heaviness of his impending death. Alice wonders about everything and works through her many questions with the thoughtful guidance of Doc and Edna and the just-in-time, tidy awakening of her mother. Elliott's dialogue is right on target with the soft accent of the old Southern aristocracy but misses the mark when she tries to incorporate phrases like "groovy" and "can you dig it?" into the teenagers' voices. Elliott's sure hand explores a complicated chapter in America's ambivalence toward race, including the attitude many white people held regarding the social changes all around them. 2003, HarperCollins, $15.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 9 to 14. © 2003 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Melinda Elzinga (Library Media Connection, February 2004)
It seems to Alice that she can't do anything right in the eyes of her mother. Alice would rather spend her days following the estate gardener or helping in the kitchen than playing tennis or shopping with girlfriends. Her mother is aloof, interested only in landing the right man as her second husband. Alice is the reminder of the failure of the early part of her mother's life. Why doesn't her mother ever talk about her father? Why are her mother and grandmother estranged? Why doesn't her mother sit down to lunch with "the help?" This coming of age story set in the South in the late 60s is wonderfully universal. Questions of identity, belonging, cliques, racial tension, and social status still plague young people today. Readers will easily identify with Alice's love for the gardener, Doc, and the family cook, Edna, because they are the ones who have acted as father and mother to Alice. Readers will be saddened as Alice must let Doc "fly south" and pass from this life. The political fabric of America in the late 60s was very delicate and intricate and the author only briefly touches on this. The story could stand just as well or better in a different time period as the themes of love, family, and loyalty are timeless. Be sure to have tissues ready at the end! Recommended. 2003, HarperCollins, 160pp., $15.99 hc. Ages 11 to 15.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2003)
It's 1968, and ten-year-old Alice only vaguely understands the civil rights battles tearing apart the country. When her mother begins dating a bigoted politician, Alice relies on Doc, the family's curmudgeonly gardener, to teach her some life lessons. The novel is purposeful, and Alice often seems either older or younger than she is, but the story is still engaging. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2003, HarperCollins, 150pp, $15.99, $16.89. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws.

Cindy Faughnan (VOYA, August 2003 (Vol. 26, No. 3))
In the summer of 1968, ten-year-old Alice becomes aware of the world with the help of Doc, the family gardener who cares for the roses and chases errant woodchucks, and through Edna, the housekeeper who has worked for the family since Alice's mother was little. Alice, who gets along better with adults, is forced to be friendly with the niece of Mr. Barker, a man her mother is dating. She thinks if she could improve her tennis game, perhaps her mother would notice her. Through a series of incidents that culminate when Alice encourages a black woman and her daughter to eat in a restaurant, the prejudice felt by Mr. Barker and others is made evident. When Mr. Barker asks Alice's mother to marry him, Alice stands up to him, hoping that her mother will have the courage to do the right thing. This quiet look at the late '60s is seen through the eyes of a ten-year-old who is not quite connected with the time. The assassinations during the sixties are mentioned as well as the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam protests. Alice's mother, usually out playing tennis at the country club or socializing with a new beau, is distant until the end of the book when she is forced to choose between the way she is viewed by society and by her daughter. Readers who prefer quieter, more thoughtful stories such as Kimberly Willis Holt's My Louisiana Sky (Henry Holt, 1998/VOYA August 1998) or Jennifer Holm's My Only May Amelia (HarperCollins, 1999) will enjoy this book. PLB $16.89. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P M (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8). 2003, HarperCollins, 112p, $15.99. Ages 11 to 14.

Pat M. Patterson (VOYA, December 2003 (Vol. 26, No. 5))
Alice, who will be eleven in October, spends the summer of 1968 with her best friends-longtime gardener, Doc, a "hulking old troll of a man" with a "tough, old crocodile face," and Edna, the housekeeper for many years. Alice's mother continually rushes off to play tennis at the club in an effort to find a new husband. Mr. Barker appears to be the perfect catch, and Alice is warned to be on her best behavior around him. Alice can never seem to say anything right, do anything right, or even look right. When Mr. Barker publicly proposes to her mother at the annual Labor Day party, a dramatic confrontation results in Mr. Barker's demand for Alice's mother to choose between him and her daughter. She proudly chooses Alice. This narrative portrays what seems to be a dysfunctional family: deceased father, aloof mother, and an only child who feels like a loser. But the story is as beautiful as the roses that symbolize the tale of rebirth between mother and daughter. Doc's care of the roses is analogous to raising children and serves as Alice's wisdom for coping with life's challenges. Sadly, Alice must accept life's cycles and say goodbye to the gentle relationship that she and Doc shared. Readers will like spunky, resilient Alice. The setting provides a voice for the social conflicts of 1968 with frequent references to Vietnam demonstrations, Bobby Kennedy's assassination, Martin Luther King's influence, and the fragile acceptance of racial differences. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8). 2003, HarperCollins, 148p., $15.99. Ages 11 to 14.