Product Description

After living her life in her actress mother's world of make-believe, ninth-grader Dandelion comes to realize that it is better to face reality.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2582881 in Books
• Published on: 1999-04-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Amazon.com Review
Danny's mother has always been a little dramatic. Evidence: Danny's name is short for Dandelion. How embarrassing! The way her mother never seems to leave the stage, the way she exaggerates reality with a zillion meandering stories, has never been a problem ... until now. Danny thinks her mother is hiding the truth about Danny's father and their past. In this complex, quirky, hilarious tale, Adele Griffin shows how two smart, creative people can come to terms with the past so that they can invent their futures with spark and confidence. Prepare to laugh and cry your way through this dazzling novel.

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8. Griffin takes one of the most tired plots in current fiction and gives it fresh zip in this comedic look at "discovering Dad" by a daughter living with her single mother. There is real trauma here, but Dandelion Finzimer's angst is balanced with laughter. The characters are vivid and have distinct personalities; while all act as supporting cast to Danny's first-person narrative, they create a world readers sink into. Danny lives with her would-be actress mother, who does commercials for money, teaches at a private school to get free tuition for Danny, and acts in a community theater as her passion. She is assisted in parenting by gay upstairs neighbor, Gary. That she overdramatizes small events should clue Danny in that perhaps she isn't getting the full story about the father she has never met. It takes a madcap accident to bring her face to face with him and his inadequacies. Mom quotes a line from a play, "Some people don't split right when you cut them open," to comfort Danny when her date for the Spring Fling cancels at the last minute with a lame excuse. It's actually the theme of the book, making all the details and sideplots essential. There are bits that are cutesy, and there may be too much interior monologue for some readers. Also, Danny and her best friend often seem younger than ninth graders. Still, Split should appeal to fans of Lois Lowry's "Anastasia" books and Judy Blume's books.?Carol A. Edwards, Minneapolis Public Library
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. Danny knows that her mother, a part-time waitress, part-time actress, and part-time drama teacher, has done her best as a single parent, but Danny still fantasizes about her father, who has been gone as long as Danny can remember. The book gets off to a bit of a confusing start. If kids don't read carefully, they will think Danny is 11 rather than 14, and she does seem young for her age. But the story gets better as it progresses and steadily builds to a strong conclusion--Danny gains insight into her parents and learns something about fact and fiction, both in real life and in her burgeoning writing career. The book tackles a number of interesting issues, including class distinction and family relationships (for example, the nurturing relationship Danny has with a gay neighbor), and is, for the most part, successful in their exploration. Ilene Cooper