Conlon-McLvor, Maura. She's All Eyes: Memoirs of an Irish-American Daughter. Warner.

CONLON-McLVOR, Maura. She's all eyes; memoirs of an Irish-American daughter. Warner. 312p. illus, c2004. 0-446-69242-5. $13.95. JSA 

This reissue of FBI Girl: How I Learned to Crack My Father's Code will appeal to many. At age 13, the daughter of an FBI man "wished to write a book about love for the entire world to read." Her effort to pierce the silences--'dangerous places"--around her family in the Los Angeles area in the 1960s led to her innocent and creative spying, a dreaded award for being the "Most Quiet Girl" in her elementary-school class, a metamorphosis through her acting in a high-school play, and eventually, this poignant memoir. Despite the father's inability to express love openly, the Conlons were unified in their love for their Down syndrome youngest sibling, Joey. Baseball playing, a caring mother, and a beloved uncle also brought them together.

Simple family photographs introduce each chapter, and the reader learns of later years through an epilogue. There is a reading group guide as well. Through the eyes of an observant child, intimacy is sought and finally grasped. The book is sensitive, funny, affirming--a gift for all readers. Maureen Griffin, Researcher, Winthrop, MA