Horvath, Polly. The vacation

Kliatt, July, 2005 by Janis Flint-Ferguson

HORVATH, Polly. The vacation. Farrar, Strauss & Giroux. 208p. c2005. 0-374-38070-8. $16.00. J

Polly Horvath has a unique style, intermingling the grotesque and the absurd with the poignant. This novel is no exception. Twelve-year-old Henry is left with his mother's sisters, Aunt Magnolia and Aunt Pigg, when his parents take off to become missionaries in Africa. Magnolia and Pigg are interior decorators who transform his home; he hides in the closet, in the bathroom, in any place where he can get away. Aunt Magnolia becomes ill and after she is diagnosed with nothing life threatening, the two aunts decide that what she really needs is a vacation. They take Henry out of school and head for the beach. Two days later they go to the mountains. They take a side trip to visit their father in Kentucky, a grandfather Henry had never met. Then it is on to Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, all the while getting intermittent cell phone calls from his parents: his mother is lost in Africa; Henry is lost in the bayou; his father develops malaria.

The travels involve kooky characters, realistic scenery and unbelievable escapades. Finally, Henry and Aunt Magnolia (Aunt Pigg has decided to stay in Texas with a rancher she met) drive to Colorado to meet his parents at the airport. The family fusses and argues with one another while the trip goes on. In the end, Henry, who never wanted to go in the first place, comes to appreciate the scenery, the family and the drive. Janis Flint-Ferguson, Assoc. Prof., English, Gordon College, Wenham, MA

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.