  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 06/01/2015 Gr 4–6—Engaging and earnest 11-year-old Binny returns in a welcome sequel to Binny for Short (S. & S., 2013). It's the end of summer in Cornwall, and Binny's status as the bullied new girl at school is countered by her excitement about the possibility that a strange, exotic wild animal resides in the beautiful and untamed moor around their rented house. McKay alternates Binny's tale with the story of three kids living in the house in the 1910s and their interest in the collection and classification of natural specimens; the two eventually tie together. As always with McKay, the warmth and sweetness of Binny's family shine almost brighter than the excitable protagonist, and the side characters are irresistible. This title would work as a standalone, although the author's breezy writing, sheer number of characters, and habit of assuming that readers can remember who everyone is just by their names can make things confusing at times. But Binny is wonderful to spend time with, and putting down the book is like leaving a wonderfully comforting, very British setting filled with good friends. VERDICT Hand this to lovers of Jeanne Birdsall's "Penderwicks" series (Knopf).—Rhona Campbell, Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Bulletin for the Center... - 09/01/2015 Binny, from Binny for Short (BCCB 10/13) has returned, and now she and her family (mother, calm older sister Clem, and purposeful younger brother James) are living in town. Or they were until storm damage meant they had to rent a house out in the country, which, Binny is horrified to discover, belongs to the family of the girl who’s been bullying Binny at her new school. However, the new house offers some interesting compensations as well-there’s a mysterious locked attic room, which turns out to hold memorabilia belonging to children who lived there 100 years ago, and there’s a patch of wild countryside that may hold something even rarer and more special. As always, McKay taps into classic British family stories with her blend of humor, warm safety, and unsupervised adventure, and even Binny’s wretched start at school is solidly counterpointed by her loving home and firm friendship with long-distance friend Gareth. The interpolated story of the three Penrose children from 1912 to 1914 braids intriguingly with Binny’s and offers its own suspense. However, it’s Binny’s anti-hunting bond with the erstwhile bully, Clare, and their determined protection of a rare wild lynx that will really engage readers, and the book is both credible and suspenseful as it inches its way toward the girls’ understated rapprochement. Even those unfamiliar with Binny’s first outing can pick up the thread here, and the mix of history, mystery, and sympathetic everyday-life story will captivate a wide variety of young readers. Reviewed from an unillustrated galley. DS - Copyright 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Loading...
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