"Divorced at Six" is a delightful read about a mischievous little girl named Ellie, her special squirrel friend she calls Harold, a mom and dad in the throes of an ugly divorce. Ellie tells all her troubles to Harold and he actually talks back to her, although Ellie is the only one who understands his lingo. Ellie's mother, Penny, accepts the talking squirrel; her father, Dennis, thinks a pet squirrel who talks is nonsense.
Truthfully, Dennis is not a very nice man, but as the story progresses, we learn he is struggling with problems at work which make him unreasonable and angry at the world. Meanwhile, Penny puts their house up for sale and tries to deal with Dennis. Ellie is worried that moving to a new house will leave Harold homeless.
But Nanny Doodle doesn't let that happen and introduces us to a charming "old south" gent named Red who has a wonderful big house for sale with lots of trees for Harold to choose from.
Nanny is a gifted storyteller who weaves her characters together with emotion and humor, even a few tears. She has an uncanny insight into a little girls' mind. We find ourselves believing that squirrels do indeed listen and talk to children. There are great dialogue sequences between Penny and Dennis, and Red and his two ladies: Penny and Ellie. Nanny proves that happiness can be found after divorce--even for a squirrel.
J. Gayle Kelly (J. Gayle Kretschmer)
Author of The Watermelon Patch