Tangles

by Errol Broome

When she takes money from her neighbor's wallet in order to buy a kitten, Sophie finds that she cannot live with the guilt.

Genres: Fiction, Animals

108 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Errol Broome grew up in Perth where she studied Arts at the University of Western Australia and worked as a journalist at the West Australian. She now lives in Melbourne. She is Literary Patron of the Society of Women Writers Victoria, and spends much time keeping her garden alive. An award-winning author, her books for children have been published widely overseas and translated into several languages.

Awards

Western Australian Premier’s Book Award (Winner 1992)
Children’s Book Council of Australia (Notable Book 1993, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2004)
Children’s Book Council of Australia (Honour Book 2001)
- bio from Fremantle Press (one of her publishers)

Reviews

[Wendy Orr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect little novel about grief and guilt, Tangles faces Sophie's sadness over the death of her cat with honesty and understanding. The ultimate redemption is quietly understated, realistic, and hopeful.

[Ebster Davis]

I pretty nearly cried after finding this book again many years after first reading it. It's stuck with me even though it's not normally the type of story I would be interested in. Very much a simple drama with no supernatural elements or lizard people, but because its told from the perspective of this little girl you become invested in her mindset and her conflict becomes almost gutwrenching. Maybe it just came to me at the right moment of my life, where the idea of wanting to have something that's all your own so badly that you're willing to steal for it and then dealing with the consequences of that one simple action and how it affects your relationships with other people made the psychological tension seem tangible. Its stayed with me for, like, 15+ years at this point, and I'm so so glad I found it agian.

[Books Kids Like · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Sophie's cat, Ginger, is killed by a car, she vows never to replace him. Then, at the hospital fair, she thinks she hears Ginger meowing. Sophie follows the sound and finds a box full of kittens. They are being sold for $5 each. Sophie falls in love with the black one. Unfortunately, she spent most of the $5 her father gave her for the fair, and he won't give her any more money. Then, Sophie sees her next door neighbor, Mrs. Cochran. Sophie helps her unload the plants for her booth. In the process, Mrs. Cochran drops her wallet. Sophie picks it up and decides to steal the money for Tangles. She goes the rest room, removes $5, and leaves the wallet at the lost and found. Sophie names the cat, Tangles. She loves him dearly but there is always the cloud of deceit hanging over her happiness. Three events help Sophie realize that she must confess.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story about a girl who buys a kitten at a fair. She gets the money from a wallet her neighbor drops and the guilt eats away at her for a long time. She avoids her neighbor because of how bad she feels, but finally her and the neighbor have a talk and she feels much better.

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

When she takes money from her neighbor's wallet to buy akitten, Sophie find that she cannot live with the guilt.

[slauderdale]

This is more of a comment than a review, because I think Wendy Orr's review is perfect. Had a little tear in my eye the whole time I was reading this, since it starts with the death of the family cat, and then communication issues, in which first the girl's needs are not met and then she self-isolates in a way that made it hurt to read. As an aside, I didn't realize this book was Australian. I knew it wasn't American but the purple five dollar bill didn't make sense for a British book, and the copyright page in my edition shed no light on the matter.