Baby Teeth

By Blythe Holbrooke

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671632841
• ISBN13: 9780671632847
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Childhood Dichotomy

I read this book and was initially taken by it's reminiscent, wholesome and fun-loving feel. It is written from the perspective of 11 year old Allie. She is as fresh, outwardly, as any 11 year old can be. She marvels about her summers at the lake front community where she lives, her appreciation of nature, her girl-like adoration for her mother, her protective love for her little brother. One has visions of 50's and 60's television shows where everyone is scrubbed clean with white teeth, perfectly pressed pinafores and curly hair. It doesn't take long, however, to realize that Allie has another, darker, life in which she lives. One that is secret, and one that she actively participates in keeping status quo.Allie's father is a successful attorney who works many hours, who is a bit "upper crust", and who is a raging, abusive alcoholic. Her older brother, obviously affected by his upbringing, is a constant negative force in Allie's life continually taunting and threatening her. Allie is strong and through the craziness, she perseveres and becomes well trained in keeping it all together. She placates, she entertains, she babysits, she acts as lookout. She is the caretaker of all, including becoming the enabler of her mother's extramarital affair, all of this while she is just a child. That in itself makes this a very sad book. The writing is difficult to get used to as it is written from an 11 year old's perspective, however, once you get the rhythm, you soon hear an almost poetic sound in Allie's voice. All in all, this book is about the story, not the ending. It looks behind the doors of the family next door and uncovers what you'd never expect.