Wild Iris Bloom

by Mavis Jukes, Unknown Author

Twelve-year-old Iris can't believe that she's been left with Mrs. Fuller, the world's nerdiest baby-sitter, while her parents are in Paris! In order to save her sanity, she visits the mall with her best friend's family--for some entertainment Iris-style. That means shopping for trophies like glow-in-the-dark skeleton socks and snakeskin high-tops--not to mention a lavender bra with major padding.

But what Iris really wants is a chance to prove that she can take care of herself. As far as she's concerned, she doesn't even need a baby-sitter! So when she gets the chance to ditch Mrs. Fuller, she jumps at it. After all, what could happen to a mature seventh grader in just one night on her own? The answer is more than Iris could have ever imagined...

Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Mavis Jukes (born May 3, 1947 in Nyack, New York), is an American author of novels for children. She has also published nonfiction books for children and pre-teens about puberty. Her books are usually health-based.

Before becoming an author, Jukes was a lawyer and a teacher. Her first book, No One is Going to Nashville, was published in 1983. She lives with her husband, the sculptor and painter Robert H. Hudson, and their daughters in Sonoma County, California. She is the daughter of Thomas Hughes Jukes, a famous molecular biologist and nutritionist, who pioneered the use of methotrexate as a new cancer therapy and was one of the first to formulate the neutral theory of molecular evolution.

She received the Newbery Honor distinction in 1985 for her book Like Jake and Me.

Reviews

[Elisabeth Petty]

I remember hiding this book either under the couch, or in my room because it has a girl with a bra on the front and I was embarrassed (I was a kid at the time), but it was a fun read about growing up.

[Morgan Lemke · Rating 5 out of 5]

well, i liked it, but it is a little scary for girls under the age of 16... a girl is almost assulted by a shoe store clerk... her parents are at vegas during this time and she told her baby sitter to go home a day early... wew, she just had it comming!!!

[Roxy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A childhood favorite. I read it obsessively.