Joan Kindig, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
Comfort Snowberger’s family runs the funeral home in the tiny hamlet of Snapfinger, Mississippi, which makes her accustomed to death and lots of it. But Comfort is struggling with a lot when her uncle and great, great-aunt die, her best friend abandons her, her obnoxious cousin arrives, and her dog, Dismay is lost. Wiles has taken one of the most uncomfortable things we go through (loss) and made it somehow normal. From Comfort’s Great-great-aunt Florentine and Uncle Edisto to her whiny cousin Peach, her characters are so fully developed and alive that I felt I knew them. Even with a backdrop of coping with loss, this is a surprisingly funny novel bursting with zany characters and situations that ultimately lead us to consider that life can throw some crazy punches but you just have to roll with them. 2005, Hacourt, $16.00. Ages 7 to 10.

Wendy M. Smith-D’Arezzo (Children's Literature)
As a coming of age story, this works on many levels. Ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger is used to death, having been raised in a funeral home, but she is not ready for the deaths of her beloved uncle and great aunt, quickly followed by the death of Dismay, the funeral dog who has been a part of Comfort’s life since her third birthday. In addition to the physical deaths, Comfort is confronted with the emotional death of her closest friendship. Her best friend, Declaration, begins to dress more like a “girl” and make fun of Comfort. Through all her hardships, Comfort is supported by a loving extended family and her own memories of her aunt and uncle. The writing is full of poetic metaphors, distracting the reader from the powerful story. The names, Comfort, Declaration, Tidings, are also a distraction. In spite of this, the book is worth reading and will hit a chord with pre-teen girls who are experiencing the big and little bumps that life delivers. 2005, Gulliver Books/Harcourt, $16.00. Ages 8 to 12.

Katrina L. Snider (Children's Literature)
Comfort Snowberger, a ten-year-old girl, grew up in an undertaking family that owns a local funeral parlor in Snapfinger, Mississippi. Throughout her life, she has attended two hundred and forty-seven funerals, making her a funeral expert. Comfort knows how to act, what to say, what to wear, and how to accommodate clients during their time of grief. Despite being good at what she does, when she faces death herself, she finds it difficult to apply her knowledge to the situation; however, Comfort later learns that losing composure to express her inner feelings is the best way to go. Comfort faces challenges and constantly loses loved ones. Having her great-uncle Edisto die, followed by her great-aunt Florentine, and then her aunt are devastating, but when Comfort loses her best friend then her dog Dismay, all her former strategies of dealing with death and loss fail her. The death of this dog brings the entire community together; it even brings Declaration and Comfort back together. Ultimately, Dismay’s death teaches Comfort a valuable lesson about life: treasure every good moment. Children struggling to understand the concept of death and how it impacts the living will find this a compelling book. Wiles shows readers how some children react when they experience the death of a close loved one. 2005, Gulliver Books/Harcourt, $5.65 and $16.00. Ages 8 to 12.

Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
Ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger knows death well. She should; she’s grown up in a family that runs the town funeral home and she’s attended 247 funerals. She’s quite the expert and she loves to share this information. In her cozy closet writing-thinking space she fills notebooks with everything from recipes to “Top Ten Tips for First-rate Funeral Behavior.” She’s continually convincing the local town paper that they ought to run her “life notices” rather than their typical obits. She understands the passing of her elderly Great-uncle Edisto and can accept the death of her Great-great-aunt Florentine. But she can’t deal with the bizarre grieving patterns of her cousin Peach; nor can she handle the sudden changes of her best friend, Declaration, who’s grown up too quickly and seems to have forgotten all they have shared. Suddenly the sureness Comfort has always known seems to fade as all the familiar supports are yanked away: dog missing, best friend turned cruel, annoying cousin clinging, almost drowning in a flood. Comfort falters, but readers know that somehow the buoyant Comfort will rise again. She can’t fail to with her sunny disposition, attentive, caring family, and history of accepting the changes life presents. Wiles’ writing is sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, and she has created a quirky warm family and a young aptly-named protagonist who will reassure readers who face hard life transitions. 2005, Harcourt, $16.00. Ages 9 to 11.

Elaine Fuhr (CM Magazine, June 10, 2005 (Vol. XI, No. 20))
Comfort Snowberger is a lively, zany 10 year-old-girl from Snapfinger, Mississippi. She is like most girls her age in many ways, yet seems much more mature with a different perspective of the world and the not so worldly. You see, her family owns the Snowberger Funeral Home and death is a familiar part of her life. Comfort not only helps prepare for the funeral, she also attends them, reports on them, writes obituaries and keeps a journal of good advice for all those who have lost loved ones. There is a certain formality in the process of mourning, and one needs only to ask Comfort Snowberger if there is any confusion on this matter. Comfort introduces the reader to each of her family members with pride and love, all except Peach. Her mom is beautiful; her dad is handsome. Little sister Merry and big brother, Tidings, are worthy siblings, while her Great-uncle Edisto and Great-great-aunt Florentine help her see the best things in her world, reminding her often that ôdeath is part of life.ö Comfort talks of her special dog, Dismay, who is with her all the time. He is a Funeral Dog, who helps the mourners feel better, and is an important part of the service. But Peach is another story. Peach is a horror! Comfort hates him, yet she is forced to look after him, even though she knows that he will ruin everything. And then there is her best friend, Declaration, who changes almost overnight and leaves Comfort sad and confused, not knowing what has happened. Deborah Wiles has woven a story of love, life and death that introduces a small town southern family. Ordinary families don't live upstair in a funeral home and smell the odors of ether and supper cooking, intermingling in their daily lives, so the reader cannot expect anything but an extraordinary story. Wiles' unusual way of depicting her characters adds humor and emotion to each situation that they face. The reader becomes a part of the family and can visualize the dust floating in a sunbeam in Great-great-aunt Florentine's vacant room or feel the peace that Comfort feels when she sits on Listening Rock and views her world from above. Between the giggles and the belly laughs are huge handkerchief moments and nail-biting seconds. Ms. Wiles is to be congratulated on another excellent story to capture the imagination of children everywhere. Highly Recommended. Rating: **** /4. Grades 3-7. 2005, Gulliver Books/Harcourt, 247 pp., cloth, $21.95. Ages 8 to 12.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2005 (Vol. 73, No. 4))
Comfort Snowberger has attended 247 funerals, not because she's morose but because the Snowberger Funeral Home in Snapfinger, Mississippi, is where she lives with her family. In fact, the dead center of the story, so to speak, is the funeral home. When Uncle Edisto dies and then 90-year-old, great-great-Aunt Florentine, Comfort learns that "it's not how you die that makes the important impression, it's how you live." A difficult belief to accept when tragedy strikes Comfort, her dog, Dismay, and her eight-year-old sniveling cousin, Peach, all caught in a flash flood on the way to Florentine's graveside service. As Comfort clutches Peach to keep him from going under, Dismay is swept away. Despite the setting and plot, the story is not morbid but is an original celebration of life. Unique characters, inventive names (Comfort's best friend Declaration, who betrays their friendship), a fresh voice and an honest portrayal of life and death are a match made in heaven-and despite the bland title, a memorable tribute to the joys of living. 2005, Gulliver/Harcourt, 264p, $16.00. Category: Fiction. Ages 8 to 12. Starred Review. © 2005 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Timnah Card (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February 2005 (Vol. 58, No. 6))
Ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger, daughter of a dynamic family, feels safe and blessed. Since the Snowbergers run their community’s funeral parlor, death is a natural part of their existence, and the family celebrates the “messy glory” of the life of each person who passes through their Serenity Suite on the way to the cemetery. The deaths of Comfort’s adored live-in great-uncle and great-great-aunt within the same year are still hard on the whole family, particularly on Comfort’s eight-year-old cousin Peach, who just can’t handle the bad news. Comfort’s best friend, Declaration, has her patience strained by Peach’s wailing, by the dog Dismay’s exuberance, and by Comfort’s propensity for writing provocative Life Notices instead of relying on the more traditional obituaries for the dear departed. A rift in the friendship gapes wide on the weekend of Great-great-aunt Florentine’s funeral, when Peach is visiting in all his drizzly irksomeness and it seems to Comfort that not one more thing can go wrong. A flash flood proves otherwise and forces Comfort to confront the fact that while death is everpresent, so is life. The family takes on joyous dimensionality through Comfort’s first-person narration, her memories and comments highlighting each person’s quirkiness and tenderness. Comfort’s own liveliness is evident in her vivid voice and in the newspaper notices and friend-to-friend notes included in the text. These written inserts sometimes take on a more sophisticated tone than a ten-year-old would usually achieve, but Comfort’s point of view throughout the body of the narration remains consistent. Her emergent comprehension of the significance of both life and death creates a credible and persuasive conclusion, resulting in a novel that is both more hopeful and more witty than Creech’s similarly themed Chasing Redbird (BCCB 3/97). (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2005, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2005, Gulliver/Harcourt, 264p, $16.00. Grades 4-6.

Twyla Wallace (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 18, No. 1))
Comfort Snowberger, ten, lives with her family, which owns a funeral home in a small country town. She loves Dismay, her 65-pound funeral dog that is afraid of thunder, and her best friend, Declaration. Comfort knows all about funerals and gives advice to those who attend (don’t cry too loudly, bring chicken casseroles and Jell-O molds). Her world suddenly changes when Uncle Edisto dies, and within days, her great-great-aunt Florentine, age ninety-four, also dies. Comfort has to take care of Peace, an eight-year-old cousin who is uncontrollable. Peace faints and throws up at funerals, which embarrasses Comfort. Also, Comfort’s best friend deserts her now just when she needs her most. This is a humorous, sad story that depicts friends and family knit together during times of death and new beginnings. The reader will admire Comfort’s determination and courage. I highly recommend this book for elementary and middle school students. This would also be a good book to read aloud and discuss for classroom use. You will laugh and cry! Fiction, Highly Recommended. Grades 4-8. 2005, Gulliver Books, 247p., $16.00. Ages 9 to 14.