This book gives a wonderful look at Depression-era Toronto from the
perspective of a 10-year-old girl named Beatrice, Booky (pronounced
BOO-ky) is her nickname.
I first read this book as a child in elementary school and at that
time all the references to the Depression and the story's Toronto
setting was totally lost on me.
On this reading I was able to appreciate more the effects of the
financially troubled times on Booky's family and her life and also
to get a feel for the locations and events of Toronto as they would
have been in the 30s.
While a book written about the difficulties of this era might be
depressing and sad, Hunter chooses to take a more light-hearted
approach to the times by writing from the point of view of a child.
Without the political or economical pressures that a book from an
adult's point of view would have encompassed, Booky shows us that
life still went on. And it's an uplifting look at how life went on
for some people at the time.
This is a reasonable read for kids aged 10+, the same age as Booky,
but I would recommend adults helping to explain the time in which
the book is set (if the child doesn't know about the Depression) so
that a fuller appreciation of the story can be attained by the
younger reader.