Dear Shrink

by Helen Cresswell

When the woman looking after them in their parents' absence dies suddenly, three children find themselves in foster care and must use all their courage and ingenuity to cope with the situation.

Genres: Fiction

220 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Helen Cresswell (1934–2005) was an English television scriptwriter and author of more than 100 children's books, best known for comedy and supernatural fiction. Her most popular book series, Lizzie Dripping and The Bagthorpe Saga, were also the basis for television series.

Reviews

[Serena · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a horrendous rip-off of The Catcher in the Rye. I read this many years ago, and never forgot the title. I've since forgotten most of the content, but I do remember that several unmistakable elements of J.D. Salinger's book were stolen. It was disgusting. The main character, his little sister, the parents, even the way the main character talked and acted were clearly taken from The Catcher in the Rye. This book is borderline plagiarism. I absolutely cannot believe this woman had the nerve to publish this piece of crap. As you can tell, this book makes me furious.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a cute book. Seemed very monotoned though like nothing really got too exciting and just drifted in and out lazily. Picture it being narrated by Matthew McConachie reading a thriller.. this wasn’t meant to be a thriller but it just kinda flatlined the entire way. However with that said, sometimes it’s nice to escape into a world that eases your stress instead of contributing to it. Even though this was not a cheerful story by any means it was similar to just a vary bad long horrible kinda day stretched out over a few months.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have gotten used to demanding real danger from youth authors, but this is really a juvenile-level book, so I think the danger that is there (esp, and most creepily, from the foster father that wants to get Lucy alone) is sufficient; at first, though, I was ambivalent about the parents coming home from the Amazon and finding the kids in the nick of time. The writing is great.