About the Author

Catherine Bateson writes poetry, verse novels and novels for both younger readers and young adults. She has won the CBCA Book of the Year for Younger Readers twice - with RAIN MAY AND CAPTAIN DANIEL, 2003, and Being Bee, 2006. RAIN MAY AND CAPTAIN DANIEL also won the Queensland Premier's Literary Award. Three of her other novels, THE WISH PONY, PAINTED LOVE LETTERS and MILLIE AND THE NIGHT HERON were CBCA Honour Books. MILLIE AND THE NIGHT HERON was shortlisted for the YABBA and the KOALA Children's Choice awards, 2007. Her first book for Woolshed Press was the critically acclaimed THE WISH PONY, which was an Honour Book in the 2009 CBCA Book of the Year awards.

Reviews

With a personality as colorful as her name, Bateson's (Being Bee) eponymous heroine has a narrative voice that is smart, wry, and down-to-earth. Splitting her time between the homes of her divorced parents, 12-year-old Magenta leaps in to help them sort out their lives. Her mother is trying to piece together the particulars of her upcoming wedding, a process that can strain Magenta's patience. A higher priority is bolstering the spirits of her father, who has lost his job, is on an antitechnology kick, and spends his days holed up in the library. She and her best friend-an aspiring witch nearly as spunky as Magenta-create an online dating profile for him, which leads to some amusing but also affecting scenes. Magenta uses her real life, including her crush on an older boy, as fodder for a romantic medieval fantasy she is writing ("I wasn't sure what a parapet was. I googled it.... Perhaps a garden would have been a better place for them to make out"), and excerpts from it add a fanciful dimension to this real and ultimately reassuring story. Ages 8-12. (Mar.) Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.

Gr 4-6-Magenta McPhee is not your average middle school student. When she isn't penning her fantasy trilogy, she's an aspiring matchmaker who-with prodding from her friend Polly-delves into the world of online dating with the hope of finding a companion for her divorced father. But writing isn't easy, and neither is matchmaking. The conclusion is less "happily-ever-after" and more "content-for-now," but the protagonist shows readers that life can still be pretty great even without the fairy-tale ending. Magenta McPhee is part Harriet the Spy and part Parent Trap, but far from derivative. The protagonist is as bright and colorful as her name implies. Her witty, down-to-earth narrative will have readers rooting for her from start to finish. Though her ambitions and observations may seem mature for a middle schooler, the plot develops in a realistic and satisfying manner. And, far from being a drawback, Magenta's precocious musings about her life may serve as an instructive model for young readers.-Amy Holland, Hamlin Public Library, NY Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.