LILY B. ON THE BRINK OF PARIS
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
HarperCollins
ISBN-10: 0060839481
ISBN-13: 9780060839482
Ages 8-12
192 pages

When Lily B. visits Paris with her school group, she's confident that she knows everything there is to know about the city --- from her careful perusal of the Madeline picture books. However, they don't quite prepare her for all that Paris has to offer:

A dormitory quite like Madeline's?

Oui.

Franks and beans for a Parisian dining experience?

Non.

The eye-opening surprises have just begun, so Lily is glad that she has her best friend Charlotte along to take care of her and lead her in her French experience. Meanwhile, Lily is busy collecting tidbits of information to add to her Mental Pool for the eventual writing of her Great Parisian Novel. She has plenty of characters to draw from. Her traveling companions are a hoot. Of course, there's overly organized Charlotte, plus fake French girl Janet (who wants her name pronounced "Jah-nay"). There's also hippie girl Bonnie (who is convinced she lived in Paris in a previous life), Lewis the computer expert, Mysterious Tim, the Football Guys, and their loud brusque French teacher, Madame Chavotte.

Lily's mom and others have emphasized repeatedly that Lily is NOT to ever, ever become Separated from the Group. So, as you might guess, it's not long before she indeed is off on her own, on the wrong train. She doesn't know the name of the stop where she mistakenly boarded or even the address of their hotel --- all because she counts on Charlotte to store that kind of mundane information for her. Now Lily is truly lost and panic-stricken, especially since she can't speak any useful French.

When Lily at last stumbles upon someone she knows, that person is (shock! gasp!) with Lindy Sloane, the celebrity who has long fascinated Lily. Now Lily has a secret she has vowed to keep. Getting lost and meeting a star are impressive, but they are just the beginning of her Paris adventures.

Lily B. enjoys Paris and incidentally learns a few things about herself in yet another delightful addition to this series. As always, the reading is pure enjoyment (and the reader devoutly hopes that author Elizabeth Cody Kimmel is hard at work on the next episode). Recommended? Oui, oui!

   --- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)

Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.