Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-26

body has a part. Branch Diversey i.
the little boy who. like every one @
his tribe. looks upon the circus as tho
complete glorif1cation of life. And ht
dreamed Of it for days. He would
for dreaming turned out to be the
fatal streak in this character. THAI
first show offered opportunity, fol
Branch's stepfather had been a circu.
man, so, naturally, he had sympathy
for the lads desire to be a Snowman
But, nothing came of it-becaust
nothing happening was the quality Of
this. boy and man. Not much to make
into romance, you are saying. AND
that's true. too, or would be had not
this author the gift Of picturesque
and plausible invention. So, from
situation. to situation, all of then,
drawn from the stimulating DAYS OF
the present, he posits before Branch
Diversey chance after chance to dc
eide, to take stand. No, the fell
low Is not a repulsive Stacker. Quite
otherwise. And 1t takes a true gift
on the part of the author to follow
these indecisions and at the same
to enlist readers so whole.heartedly in
his final success in the experiment OF
growing to be a real man. One goes
along partakingly here. Everybody
is mostly a bundle of indetermina.
ton. Therefore, to a splendidly con
structed romance in human growth
there is added the readers clear kin
ship to this modern youth, a tie that
adds greatly to the deep interest of
the story itself. A serious romance
but not a heavy one. an engaging in.
ing.
IDLE ISLAND. BY Ethel Hueston
author of "Swedey," etc. Indian
apoIis: The Bobbs. Merrill Co.
THAT'S merely the name OF it
- idle Island" For certainly q
buster spot than this tiny one of
the Maine coast never served better
the active imagination of any Sum.
mer novelist. The source of so many
lines Of 'prodigious activity, simple
and sinister by turn, Is young
woman Of the super brand, around
whom hazards flock as bees swarm to
the honey pot. Indeed, through this
Is buster than Broadway, more un.
believable than Bagdad. An artist
the girl. come from the city to this
retreat for much needed rest, takes
to the solitude of Lone Pine cabin
there to loiter through long recreative
days Of smiling peace. Nothing like
that comes to pass. Almost at once
strange doings set in, stealthy ap.
pearances and disappearance. Creep.
ing forms of Oriental cast move,
shadow-like and menacing, through
the gloom of the pine forest. Set off
against such spooky proceedings are
the common affairs of the little settle
ment down below. And here is a
neighborhood more primitive and
''down-East-like" than many another
author would have the nerve to
ascribe even to a lonely little island
off the Maine coast. Oh. very excit.
ing right from the start, but quite
incredible as an organized unit of
human behavior, even with bootleg.
ging and dope smuggling to help out
an author who has a turn for spinning
yarns that bark back to fine old pirate
days.
SUE STANWOOD. BY Lillian Grace
Copp. Illustrated by William c..
McNulty. Boston: L. G. Page s.
SUE STANWOOD, like every other
glad" girl. Is overworked. This
is the handicap Of the whole Polly
anna tribe. The trouble appears to
rest with the authors of stories of this
class. A very natural trouble, too,
since girls of the up-and coming sort
are calculated to distort the Judgment
OF their elders, so competent are these
young things, so energetic, so ingeni-
GUS In device and plan, so utterly con-
ndent In the world itself. Therefore,
as In the case Of this particular girl,
their assignments are all too heavy.
To set up in business without training
or experience. and to make a 20 Of 1t,
would seem to be job enough for age
ana proved competency. But, in add.
ton to this triumphant achievement,
Sue Stanwood plays Cupid with an eff.
cheney that passes an overtimid, ma
ture pair right into the hands Of the
preacher. Not satisfied yet, she or.
gan4zes and executes something like a
perpetual Santa Claus program that
dispenses neighborhood largess and
happiness with open hand. I leave it
to you II this sum Of success does not
more properly belong to an entire
Camp Fire clan than to one young
girl. An entertaining story. neverthe.
less, projected In an enthusiasm that
carries 1t along CALAMITY. despite its
clear overload. A book like this fills
a very useful place in the reading of
the young girl. It supersedes the
fairy tale. Rather it moves the fairy
tale UP into the immediate inagina.
ton OF this age. giving It the interest
OF immediate partaking on the part of
girl readers. Some people scoff at
these glad books for girls coIIjno
them so unreal as to have q pernicious
erect. Children. no less than grown
folks, live by the imagination much
more than they live by facts. And
when stories Of good. sturdy optimism
like Sue Stanwood,"- pass into the
hands Of girl readers. the benefits de-
rived from these far surpass any pos
siple harm, just as the recognized
rairy tale itself offers no such dangers
and disadvantages. An admirable ex
ample this of reading that Is open and
sunny, aired and wholesome. for the
enjoyment Of girls.