Book Review - The Ballad of Lucy Whipple
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cushman, Karen. 2008. The ballad of Lucy Whipple. [Audiobook]
PLOT SUMMARY
The ballad of Lucy Whipple follows the experiences of an 11-year old girl, California Whipple, and her family as they settle in Lucky Diggins California and run a boarding house for minors. California, embarrassed to be named after the state of her new home, convinces the people in her life to call her Lucy. Lucy is not happy to be in Lucky Diggins. She is much more accustomed to her hometown in Massachusetts that offers shopping and schooling options as well as her favorite place, “the lending library”. She misses her grandparents tremendously, so she writes them letters regularly, and does not mask her frustration with her new, primitive surroundings. Despite her constant plans to earn money so that she can return home, Lucy helps her mom raise her younger siblings and run the boarding house. Time unexpectedly heals the wounds of missing home, and Lucy grows into a young woman who learns a lot about the joys and heartaches in life, while always maintaining her strength of character.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Cushman introduces the reader to lovable characters while using historical facts to create a setting and way of life common during the California Gold Rush in 1849. Lucy’s love for books creates an opportunity for the author to highlight the primitive and unsettled nature of many of the new mining communities. Lucy lends her books that she waited a long while to receive from a teacher back home, and they are passed from person to person throughout various journeys, and often make their way back to Lucy. Lucy befriend a young African American boy who is a freed slave, working to maintain his freedom. Their relationship teaches much about the racism that was ever present among most people at the time. When Lucy and her family first move to Lucky Diggins, she comments on how beautiful her mother finds the area, but Lucy is appalled by the lack of options for stores and things to do. Facts about the unsettled land and the numerous journeys made by characters throughout the book take the reader to a place and time when survival was the main goal, and not always easily attained. The characters are relatively poor people trying to make a living, and trading for the things that they need, and the gold dust, so sought after, was not a simple find. Listening to the story as an audiobook added a richness to the experience. The narrator, Christina Moore, as a strong voice, and emphasizes the quick wit and sharp tongue of young Lucy which adds to the comedic edge that the girl’s character brings. All in all, a reader is sure to fall in love with the strong single mother trying to carry out the dreams that she had with her late husband, and her children as they navigate a new life.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Kirkus Book Review - “With a story that is less a period piece than a timeless and richly comic coming-of-age story, Cushman remains on a roll.”
CONNECTIONS
~Read the book as a class, and incorporate other sources and activities about the California Gold Rush.
Book Review - Penny from Heaven
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Holm, Jennifer. 2006. Penny from Heaven. New York, NY: Random House Children’s Books.
ISBN 0-375-83687-X
PLOT SUMMARY
Penny is 11 years old, and her world revolves around her family. The two sides of her family are quite different, and she is in a time of her life when she is quite curious to find answers to some missing pieces of the puzzle of her life. Penny’s father died when she was a baby, but she gets conflicting stories from her family about how he passed. She lives with her mother and grandparents, and life at home is made up of her grandma’s nasty cooking and a lot of quiet. On her father’s side, she has a large Catholic Italian family where the food is center stage at every event, and her father’s siblings spoil her all the time. When Penny and her best friend and cousin Frankie offer to do their grandmother’s laundry in an attempt to search the basement for alleged buried money that her grandfather left, Penny’s arm gets caught in the washing machine, and she is badly injured. Her favorite uncle, Dominic, gets her to the hospital where some of the missing pieces of her father’s story start to come out. Penny hears her mother blame Dominic for her husband’s death, and then overhears some of the hospital staff claiming the Panny’s father was a spy during the war. When she finally gets the nerve to confront her mother about her father, she learns that her father lost his life in an internment camp in the US because he was accused of being a spy when the police learned that he had a fancy radio. The radio, a gift from his brother Dominic, was used simply to listen to his favorite ball team. Finally Penny’s past becomes clear, and the family heals many open wounds in the process.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Holm presents a beautiful story set in 1953 about a young girl learning about herself and life. Using the experience of an Italian family post World War II shows the reader a perspective that is quite different from what is often focused on in history classes. Ultimately, Penny learning that her father died in an internment camp in America, touches on a piece of history that should be quite interesting to young readers. The setting gives almost an nostalgia to the story as we see the 50s through the eyes of a sheltered young girl. The changes in the times is prominent to a reader through ideas such as Penny’s mom not allowing her to go to the pool for fear that she might catch Polio, to the lack of televisions in most of the homes. There are also many details about the Italian Catholic culture included through the events of Penny’s Nonny’s friend passing away so that the family attends the wake and services to her grandmother’s devastation over her father not being buried in the Catholic cemetery. I do wish that the truth about Penny’s father would have come out a little earlier in the book, so that more details about spies, and life for immigrants in America during World War II could have been included, but the story and characters are intriguing and easy to love which make the book and enjoyable read.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Kirkus Book Review - “It takes so long to get there that the revelation seems rather anticlimactic, but getting to know Penny and her families makes the whole eminently worthwhile.”
CONNECTIONS
~This would be a good book to read as a class and bring in actual newspaper clippings and other resources related to the time period. Specifically interesting, could be bringing in information about the internment camps in America.
Book Review - Chickadee
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Erdrich, Louise. 2012. Chickadee. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN
978-0-06-057790-2
PLOT SUMMARY
Chickadee is a story of experiences of an Ojibwe family in 1866. Chickadee is an 8 year old boy who has a twin brother and lives with his family in the North Woods of Minnesota. When Chickadee is bullied by Zhigaag for being weak, his brother tricks the old man to get back at him. Zhigaag’s sons lash back out at the family by kidnapping Chickadee and taking him as their servant to the Red River Valley. Chickadee’s family searches tirelessly for the boy and journeys as far as The Great Plains where they settle into a new life. Chickadee manages an escape, and survives on his own as he attempts to reunite with his family. He happens upon a group of oxcart travelers, and discovers his uncle is among the group. Chickadee joins his uncle’s journey to St. Paul to sell furs, and then journeys back to Pebina where his family has settled, and is reunited.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Erdrich provides a geographical journey to the reader from Minnesota to the Great Plains. The story is rich in content to be learned about the Ojibwe tribe and their beliefs. Erdrich contrasts the customs of the Ojibwes by introducing traveling priests and nuns throughout the story. The family hunts for their food and fights for survival in the North Woods, but conditions are much worse when Chickadee is in the care of the brothers who live off of mouse droppings and rotten meat. A completely different experience is addressed when Chickadee arrives in a St. Paul and experiences a larger city for the first time. By having the characters travel, Erdrich is able to give a glimpse into several different lifestyles at this time. Fascinating, also, are the traveling conditions described as Chickadee joins the oxcart trail. Through his eyes, the reader experiences the hardships that went along with travel at the time. From having to rely on the conditions of the rivers to the thick attacks of mosquitoes, and the unwanted snakes that made their way into the warmth of sleeping bags at night, the reader is able to experience conditions much different from what we are used to today. Scattered throughout the book are black and white sketches of the characters and scenes that add a visual aspect to the story.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Starred Kirkus Book Review - “A beautifully evolving story of an indigenous American family.”
CONNECTIONS
~English teachers could read this novel with students as they are studying the history of the American Indians in Social Studies classes to make cross-curricular ties.
Book Review - Paperboy
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Vawter, Vince. 2013. Paperboy. New York, NY: Random House Children’s Books.
ISBN 978-0-385-74244-3
PLOT SUMMARY
Paperboy, set in 1959 is the autobiographical story of Vince Vawter detailing the experiences that he had a s a young boy with a speech impediment. Struggling with a stutter, the “paperboy” takes on his best friend’s paper route for a short time, and develops a confidence through his experiences that helps him overcome his speech impediment. Through his experiences with Mr. Spiro, a well spoken Merchant Marine who understood the needs of a young boy with a speaking problem, and his Mam, an African American maid who loved him like a son, and protected him from the evils of the world, the Paperboy develops the confidence that he needs to say the “hard sound” right out loud for his peers, and announce his name, Vince Vawter.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Vawter presents his own story in an endearing light so that the reader is sure to root for success for the young protagonist. Set in 1959, the reader encounters the easier way of life that goes along with an old school paper route. Also, this era paints a picture of terrible racism, that is clearly presented through Vawter’s daily interactions with the person that he, arguably, loves the most, his Mam. Vawter shares his distaste for the fact that Mam can’t openly seat herself at the front of a bus without being scrutinized, and how she can’t do all of the things that white patrons can do on their visits to the zoo. These scenes help paint a picture of segregation that will quickly be challenged with the first integrated schools. The book encourages important conversations about cultural issues such as segregation as well as differences in the time period of the setting like women’s rights.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
The Horn Book Review - “In a compelling climax, he, still stuttering, proudly announces his real name; the moment is as eloquent as his story.”
CONNECTIONS
~The book could be used with students who are in teacher preparation courses to accompany studying students with speech impediments.
~This book would be great for an in-class or extra credit reading assignment because of the historical references as well as the conversations that it will provoke about empathy and understanding others who are different.
