Full review at http://yannabe.com/2009/07/13/review-...

Summary: After their father’s heart attack, their mom starts working overtime and it’s up to the three Gold sisters—May, Palmer, and Brooks—to pull through it on their own.

Review: This story is about how grief can turn you into a zombie. And Johnson’s humor was the perfect way to temper the heavy topic.

Although I’m not usually a fan of alternating points of view, it worked for me in this story because a common grief united the three girls.

Here’s the first part of May’s story to give you a taste for the rest of the book:

May Gold’s actual name was Mayzie. As far as she knew, this was not a real name. It was a made-up, moon-man-language name based on Willie Mays, one of the most famous baseball players of all time.

All of the Gold girls were named after baseball players, a testament to their father’s obsessive love of the game. Brooks was named after Brooks Robinson, twenty-two-year veteran of the Baltimore Orioles. Palmer was named after Jim Palmer, who was considered to be the best pitcher in Orioles history. May’s sisters’ names had relevance in their lives. They played softball. (Palmer was, in fact, a pitcher.) Also, Brooks and Palmer were kind of cool-sounding names. May could imagine a Brooks or a Palmer working in a law firm or becoming a famous artist. Mayzie was someone who had a washing machine on her front porch and turned up on some trashy talk show for the “My Mom Married My Brother!” episode. ( )

The Key to Golden Firebird is about three siblings. How the three siblings got separated by their father's death. Which made thing very difficult for the middle sister May. Since her mother relay on her for every thing like taking care her older and younger sisters. She was very depressed and annoyed by her sisters. And the sisters were just being annoying and made both the mother and May difficult. But the truth was that all three sisters were in trouble of their own. The girls were stuck with demons, after fighting with one demon another one comes. As the siblings win over the fights, they started to learn the rules of the game. But they found the that they weren't any rules in hearts. As they learn the rules, it brought May, Palm, Brook together again as sisters. And the key was their father's car the Pontiac firebird. Which help them a lot. The motto of the book is that after difficulties there will be good things happen.

One minute May Gold was the average teenage girl, trying to balance being a good daughter and sister while simultaneously plotting revenge on the boy next door, her father’s best friend’s son Pete Camp (hint: it involves nudity). The next, she’s father-less, Mike Gold the victim of a heart attack that leaves behind a struggling nurse wife and three shocked sisters, who whirl off into their own ways of dealing with the news.

A year later, things have not improved much in the Gold household. Their mother is constantly at work, and is thus unable to notice how Brooks, the eldest sister, sneaks out every night to get drunk with her “boyfriend” Dave and his motley crew. Palmer, the youngest, struggles to hide her panic attacks while becoming the next softball star on her high school’s varsity team. And May, the middle sister, the responsible one, feels constrained by the chores laid upon her because no one else will do them.

Even worse, May fails her driver’s test—and May never fails any test. She has no choice but to accept Pete’s offer of teaching her how to drive, providing him with even more opportunities to tease her and play jokes on her. Pete has always been “just Pete” to May… until he starts dating her coworker. Suddenly, May’s not sure if she’s comfortable with the situation. Which means… what? And what can she possibly do about it, when she and her two sisters don’t know yet when they are allowed to be normal again?

The plot, while basic, comes alive at the skilled hands of Maureen Johnson, who provides wit, humor, and heart aplenty for everyone. It’s an easy read, but the writing will stay with you and make you yearn for more from this highly acclaimed author. ( )

After the death of their father, the three Gold sisters aren't really coping. May, the focus of the book, seems more together than the other two, one of whom becomes obsessed with playing softball and forgets to eat, and the older who quits her softball team and goes out drinking every night. It's not until everything completely falls apart, including May, that they're able to start recovering.
Eh, I didn't like this so much.

Three sisters find their family falling apart a year after their father's unexpected death. This is a sweet story of how they manage to reach out and pull themselves together, as well as survive the regular complications of being a teenager.
The three sisters are very different people, but the author brings each of them vividly to life. ( )