Chloris and the Creeps

by Kin Platt

Book Overview

After her parents' divorce and father's suicide, an eleven-year-old causes misery in the family by her hostile reaction to her mother's new husband. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440914159
• ISBN13: 9780440914150
• Release Date: January 1974
• Publisher: Dell Pub Co
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A good look at childhood in "Chloris and the Creeps"

Chloris in "Chloris and the Creeps" is one unhappy child. Unfortunately, she's also a hostile, unpleasant one, determined to make her family (mother, sister Jenny, and stepfather) suffer along with her. Jenny narrates this story, in which Chloris does her best to create a fantasy world in which she and her estranged father are reunited and happy, and where Jenny attempts to live with her sister's misery and the upheaval it causes.Set in California during the 1970s, "Chloris and the Creeps" is like stepping back into a time machine and revisiting your childhood--the clothes, the slang, the TV programs, and the issues. Platt doesn't sugarcoat any of it. Jenny may be too earnest for some readers, but make no mistake: the one with the lesson to learn (and the blinders to remove) is Chloris, who is desperate to hold on to her illusions of happiness with her father.Unlike many of the reviewers, I felt little sympathy for Chloris--and I doubt the reader will also. While it does illustrate the problems of blended families and the pain of losing a parent, it also paints a true-to-life portrait of a girl who feels that, so long as she's unhappy, everyone around her must be as well. It's not politically correct by any means, but it is well-done. If you remember Kin Platt's Chloris series, or you know someone from a broken family, I recommend you buy it.

The Chloris books were great! A touch of reality!

I read the Chloris books when I was young and I identified with Chloris' complicated life. I think the author speaks intelligently to young readers. The author deals squarely with a child facing a less-than-ideal family situation and realistically portrays a child's anger when this happens.

Startling and Tragic, This story is moving and believable

I am saddened to see that the Chloris books by Kin Platt have gone out of print. Though written in the early 1970s these books have a lot to say about our divorce happy society and the effects on children. The characters of Jenny, Chloris, and Fidel Mancha are very true to life and likeable. I love all three of the Chloris books and I would highly recommend them all, especially to children of divorce.