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Publisher:
Farrah, Straus and Giroux |
Release
Date: October 2004 |
ISBN:
0374380341 |
Awards:
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Format
Reviewed: Hardcover |
Buy
it at Amazon |
Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
Middle Grade Historical Fiction from the early 1900s |
Reviewed:
2004 |
Reviewer:
Jan Fields |
Reviewer
Notes: |
Copyright
MyShelf.com |
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Operation Clean Sweep
By Darleen Bailey
Beard
In 1916,
Oregon was one of only eleven states that allowed women to vote,
but in the small town of Umatilla, the voting power of women was
about to be unleashed in a secret plan. In Operation Clean Sweep,
young Cornelius Sanwick accidentally overhears this plan -- a plan
to unseat all the men on Election Day. Worst of all, Cornelius'
mom is earmarked for mayor. Since the present mayor is Cornelius'
dad, he's got a serious problem. Should he keep the secret to help
his mom or spill it to help his dad? And if that isn't enough worry,
Cornelius also wants to find a famous pickpocket and get a chance
to hold the hand of the prettiest girl in Umatilla. As the plot
follows all these plans, the reader comes along for a light-hearted
and spirited ride with Cornelius and his best buddy Otis. Although
the underlying message about family obligation and human equality
is serious, this is anything but a problem novel. Darleen Bailey
Beard adds a wonderful pair of pals to such literary scalliwags
as Mark Twain's Tom and Huck and Robert Newton Peck's Robert and
Soup. Readers might be able to avoid learning something -- but they
sure will have fun while they do it.
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