The Manny
Holly Peterson
Dial, Jun 19 2007, $25.00
ISBN: 0385340400

Thirty six tears old Jamie Whitfield and her lawyer spouse Phillip raises three children on exclusive Park Avenue in Manhattan. She also works part-time as a producer for a news program. However, though the Whitfields seem to be living the American dream, she is worried about her troubled nine year old son Dylan, whose father is never home and lacks an older male role model. Though it disturbs her Middle America upbringing to pay for a man, Jamie has adjusted to the lifestyle of the rich and famous in which all problems are solved by throwing money at it.

She hires almost thirty Peter Bailey to be the MANNY, "a nanny of male persuasion" to help raise the kids especially Dylan. However, Peter obtains funding for his software business so he can quit the demeaning position, but does not. He is attracted to his employer and believes she reciprocates, but wonders whether she will act on her desires especially when she is chasing down a news story that could make her career if she stays faithful.

This amusing tale lampoons the hypocrisy of some of the affluent who complain when the government spends money on problems, but resolve personal issues by spending money on them. Surprisingly even with the Manny and his employer fully developed and fun to follow their antics, the tale is stolen by her spouse whose temper tantrums over nothings seem more like a two year old used to getting his way. Holly Peterson provides a fabulous look at the changes in the individuals of a wealthy Manhattan family once they have their own male Poppins join them.

Harriet Klausner