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From School Library Journal Grade 46Unwilling to bear the idea of spending a week in St. Louis with her rowdy cousins while her parents are on a cruise, 11yearold Angie Doxley slips off the airplane and hides until her folks leave. She sends her aunt a believable excuse by telegram and then looks forward to one week of freedom in the airport, living on what is left of the $75 her mother has given her. She soon meets Val, who spends her days concocting elaborate fantasies about the airport and the people who pass through it. The two girls join forces and, with Val's help, Angie manages to survive and enjoy the week. Such an intriguing situation will attract young readers, and they're likely to identify with the welldrawn protagonists. Unfortunately, the plot bogs down in overly long descriptions of daily events and the games the girls play. A slight mystery element helps enliven the last few chapters, but it comes too late to pick up the pace. In addition, the plot stretches credibility, particularly when their antics cause airport security to mount an international search through Interpol. Throughout, Val and Angie remain free of guilt in spite of the havoc they cause. A lightweight story about budding friendship and exerting independence.Maggie McEwen, Coffin Elementary School, Brunswick, MECopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. Product Description Elevenyearold Angie trades another dull summer with her cousins for a wild airport vacation with an unusual new friend, whose typical day includes everything from a burger feast to international espionage. By the author of The Moon Bridge. From Publishers Weekly On the way to the airport with her parents, Angie is not at all happy. Her mother is taking her father on a weeklong cruise (to help him recover from an apparently mild nervous breakdown), and the 11yearold is bound for St. Louis, where she'll stay with her aunt and three detested cousins. But in the first of a string of unlikely occurrences, Angie sneaks off her plane before it leaves the gate and resolves to spend the week at the airport. She then sends her aunt a telegram, allegedly from her mother, announcing that Angie cannot come since she has poison ivy. Given the limited setting and sluggish pace, readers are likely to find Angie's daily routine of visiting shops, deciding what to eat and avoiding the security guards rather tedious, while Angie's blend of ingenuousness and cunning is simply unconvincing. To add momentum, Savin ( The Moon Bridge ) introduces the eccentric Val, the daughter of a waitress in an airport restaurant. Left to roam about by herself every day while her mother works, Val draws Angie into a fantasy game that gets them both into hot water with airport officials. Unfortunately this story lineand the novel as a wholeis too farfetched to involve the reader. Ages 1014. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.