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Sabine Durrant has worked as a journalist for the Independent, the Sunday Times, the Observer and the Guardian, and has written two very succesful novels for adults. Cross Your Heart, Connie Pickles is her first novel for younger readers. Sabine lives in Wimbledon with her husband and three children.
In her journal, Connie Pickles chronicles seven weeks in her life, during which she sets her mother up with three different men, gets a job, quits a job, marches against the war, gets kissed, almost loses a friend and falls in love. Connie enlists the help of her best friend Julie to help find a boyfriend for her mother. They have three criteria: He must have money, have ties to France and be good with small children. However, even with this short list of requirements, eligible bachelors are scarce. Connie is so tied up in her schemes that she fails to notice the romance swirling around her. Her long-time friend, William, suddenly seems to be following her around. Her next-door neighbor, Delilah, is getting a reputation from all her partying and Julie has fallen in love. Connie is at once clever, funny and heartbreakingly real. Though at times a bit too familiar, Durrant manages to tell a fun and engaging story. (Fiction. 12-14) (Kirkus Reviews)
