Using a child narrator for a novel intended for adult readers is a tricky proposition, but Sandra Kring pulls it off with perfection in The Book of Bright Ideas.

Evelyn Peters (aka “Button”) is the heart of this tale of childhood friendship that grows with the intensity that only eight-going-on-nine can muster when an unconventional pair of siblings burst into their staid midwestern town like the fireworks on “Marty Graw”. Freeda Malone is a fiery redhead with the mouth of a sailor, the body of a temptress, and a perhaps too-healthy appetite for male company. Her baby sister Winnalee is an impatient bundle of energy, dubious fashion choices, and big ideas (which she writes down in the titular book). That the two girls should instantly become best of friends is almost inevitable, as Button’s imagination is nurtured by Winnalee’s flights of fancy, and Winnalee finds stability and loving acceptance from Button’s Aunt Verdella.

What’s perhaps less to be expected is that the free-spirited Freeda also opens doors for Verdella and for Button’s mother, Jewel – a process Button sees and describes, without fully understanding what’s at the base of it all. She knows only that, bit by bit, her world is getting just slightly bigger, though sometimes the grown-ups around her make choices she can’t really comprehend.

Kring keeps the point-of-view firmly with Button, even as events unfold in the adult world that will change everything in heartbreaking ways. Most readers will have winkled out the main revelation long before it’s made, but can still feel the pain the knowledge brings to everyone touched by it.

Definitely worth the read. ( )

Some people come into your life like a thunderstorm. That is how I feel about this book. It is a thunderstorm filled with loud thunder, lots of lightening, and fierce wind. And that is how Freeda and Winnalee come into town. Somehow Verdella sees them for what they really are-vunurable and in need of love and care. The author swept me away and I arrived in Dauber in the whirlwind that was Freeda and Winnalee. Poor Winnalee is carrying an urn filled with her mother's ashes and rarely puts it down. It is her security blanket. The characters are so life like that I felt like I was leaving my friends when the book ended. ( )

A tiny bit superficial or cliched, but much less so than, say, [b:Because of Winn-Dixie|6308478|Because of Winn-Dixie|Kate DiCamillo|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275753644s/6308478.jpg|25169]. Touching, fun, a bit provocative. I want more by her, and more like this. ( )

This story told in a child's voice touched the wonder and belief in my own heart. The interaction of the well-developed characters and their impact on each other brought me right into their world. I found the book easy to read, but very thought-provoking. ( )

After reading Finn, Middlesex, and The Tipping Point in a six month period, my book club was ready for something lighter, and this book definitely fit the people. There's a lot of humor in this book about how free-spirited Winnie and Freeda Malone change the lives of an extended family living in a small town. This book is well-written and does deal with some adult subjects, but is still a lot of fun. ( )