Forever Rose | 
| Author: Hilary Mckay
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $8.28
You Save: $8.71 (51%)
New (27) Used (7) from $8.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 83202
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.3
ISBN: 1416954864
EAN: 9781416954866
ASIN: 1416954864
Publication Date: April 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Rose knows that nothing stays the same forever. Still, it's hard to watch her sisters and brother growing up and moving so far ahead of her. Caddy is back, but she's not living at home. And worse -- she's broken up with Darling Michael. Saffy and Indigo are so busy, they are seldom home. With her father in London and her mother painting in the shed, Rose is often alone in the house. Maybe that's why she agrees to her new friend Molly's crazy scheme. At least it seems crazy when Rose finds herself locked in the zoo at night with a roaring tiger. Maybe she should have been paying more attention to what Molly was saying. But on that spooky night, Rose finds out a secret that just might change everything -- and help bring her family and friends together and new life to their old house. Hilary McKay infuses her charming characters with much love and laughter in this final visit with the delightfully daffy Casson family.
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| Customer Reviews:
Pure magic July 12, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The final installment in the popular, award-winning series about the Casson family and assorted friends stars and is narrated by its craziest (among eccentrics), youngest and most endearing character, Rose.
Artistic, volatile Rosey Pose is unappreciated at school by an unimaginative teacher and lonely at home in a house that used to feel too small.
Where has everyone gone? Plus, she doesn't read and certainly doesn't care for the books people keep putting under her nose.
Rose and her best friend Kiran do go along with a scheme to spend the night in the arctic foxes' shed at the zoo.
Who finds Rose? Her own missing and beloved oldest sister, Caddy. Caddy has a surprise of her own, one that will bring all these quirky characters together for a most satisfying conclusion. Oh -- and Rose discovers the joy of reading all on her own. Rosey Pose, your readers love you!
[Review originally appeared in the Palo Alto Weekly, 7/9/08]
Absolutely Wonderful July 6, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I love these books almost beyond words. They are written in such an amazingly sweet, funny and eccentric way that, like Harry Potter, it's nearly impossible to put them down. Forever Rose is the fifth and final book in Hilary McKay's acclaimed series, the others being "Saffy's Angel", "Indigo's Star", "Permanent Rose" and "Caddy Ever After." Regardless of the title of the previous book, the last three have really been about Rose, who is, in my opinion, doubtlessly the most endearing character in the series.
The story centers around Rose Casson, who I believe is now in fifth or possibly sixth grade (Year Six in England). Her siblings (Cadmium, Saffron and Indigo -- the children's artist parents named them after colors) seem oddly busy, Caddy being the exception, as she has gone missing, and don't have much time for Rose. Her new teacher is nasty and self-absorbed, her father comes home even less than usual, and her mother is, as always, very absent-minded. But Rose finds things to do (as she always does!) with her friends Kiran (wild with wilder ideas) and Molly (boring). The three come up with an amazingly daring plan -- although possibly not for Rose, for whom nothing is too much.
Caddy's surprising news highlights the eccentricity of the series, and, as expected, all the loose ends do get tied up -- and definitely in a way that makes you laugh, cry and feel like writing Hilary McKay a letter of protest for ending her series, which, by the way, I very nearly did. I'll stop writing this review before I reveal too much. But read Forever Rose. It's definitely worth it. And if this is your first time with the Casson family? Go back to the beginning and buy "Saffy's Angel".
Simply Wonderful May 21, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Okay, you should know that all things considered, I invariably choose fantasy over contemporary realism, and I can usually keep my head when reviewing and not gush. BUT--Hilary McKay's five books about the Casson family are among my all-time favorites. EVER. I LOVE the delicate blend of humor and truth and trouble and compassion in every one of these books. The characters are so quirky and likable and real--not only the Casson kids and their rather odd parents, but secondary characters such as David and Sarah, as well. In this last volume, even the various school teachers shine in their brief cameos--and the bits about the first grade Nativity play are the funniest thing since The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!
I ordered Forever Rose the second I saw it was available and opened it up with bone-deep joy, then had one of those minor panic attacks that can sweep down upon avid readers: "What if it's not as good as I think it will be? As good as I want it to be?" But it was. In this book, the youngest Casson, Rose, is grumping her way through a pre-Christmas season beleaguered by a mother with an endless cold, a truly awful sixth grade teacher, and siblings who are clearly growing up and away and leaving her behind. Among other things. Like--how might someone get away with spending the night at the zoo? (In the arctic foxes' shed, of course. The foxes are apparently out of town.)
I do strongly recommend you read all of the books in order, since you'll enjoy this one far more if you do. I mean, I imagine you can still have a good read without doing that; I just wouldn't recommend it.
There is an air of magical realism about McKay's Casson books, even though there isn't a scrap of actual magic in them. (The main character does have some interesting things to say about fairy tales in Forever Rose.) I personally find real life--the people and words and sights and sounds of it--magical in its own right. McKay somehow manages to capture that world-faith/world-joy in her Casson books. It's also quite an accomplishment to write such hopeful books about life and family without being the least bit didactic.
I'm just so happy today, having spent some time with the Casson family again. Thank you VERY much, Hilary McKay!
Brilliant May 16, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Perfect, perfect, perfect. This book is brilliant; the perfect ending to this series. I adored the first two books in this series, was disappointed in Permanent Rose (what was the deal with Rose's father anyway), and felt hopeful with Caddy Ever After. However, in Forever Rose, the Casson family is back with all their eccentricity, humor and warmth. McKay takes all of the loose ends (Caddy and Michael) and ties them together. Very satisfactory.
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