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Summary
Summary
Combining the heart of her Newbery Honor-winning fiction and the spirit of her legendary Baby-Sitters Club series, Ann M. Martin introduces a timeless new series for girls.
Flora and Ruby do not want to move to Camden Falls. But they don't really have a choice -- their parents are dead and their grandmother, Min, is taking them in. It's strange to be in a new place. But luckily, it's a very welcoming place.
Min runs a sewing store, Needle & Thread, at the heart of Main Street in Camden Falls. There, Flora and Ruby become friends with Olivia, who likes to organize things, and Nikki, who lives on the wrong side of the tracks. Even if Flora and Ruby never expected it to, Camden Falls becomes their home . . . and its stories become a part of their stories.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-The first book in this series hints at a great variety of events yet to come. When Flora and Ruby Northrup's parents die in an automobile accident, their grandmother moves them to her family home, a stately old row house in Camden Falls, MA. Soon the girls are caught up in helping Grandma at her shop, Needle and Thread; making friends; and finding their way in a new community. Although they have moments of sorrow as they think about their parents, they also have fun planning the annual barbeque and discovering letters and family photos in Min's attic. Each sister stands as an individual, and there is enough action to keep the plot moving along. The solid sense of place and the ability of the characters to overcome adversity continue in the second book. Summer is over and sixth-grader Flora and fourth-grader Ruby enter Camden Falls Elementary School. Ruby is all set to join the children's chorus and try out for a play, two ambitions that distract her from serious schoolwork. Flora finds herself missing her old school, but when her teacher tells her that she taught her mother, she begins to feel more comfortable. It is a special year for the town, which is celebrating its 350th birthday, and many of the activities at school focus on this event. Both books have an old-fashioned feel and some stock characters. They'll appeal to readers more interested in characters and values than true action and adventure.-Kathryn Kosiorek, formerly at Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Martin launches her Main Street series with this appealing though somewhat sleepy tale, set in a small Massachusetts town. Eleven-year-old Flora and her younger sister, Ruby, whose parents died five months earlier in a car accident, come to live with their big-hearted grandmother, Min. Their new home is one of eight attached row houses, whose other residents include bright, brassy Olivia, who is Flora's age; an earnest teenage boy with Down syndrome; a pair of teenage sisters, one conscientious and kind, the other initially aloof and rebellious; and a patient, elderly man devoted to his wife, who suffers from dementia. Also playing supporting roles are a girl who lives in a run-down house on the edge of town, whose gruff, defensive veneer eventually cracks; and a mysterious older woman who does mending in Min's sewing store. A passionate needleworker, Flora relishes the hours she spends helping out and doing sewing projects in the shop. Readers may agree with Ruby-whose passion is dancing and singing-that time spent there is not all that lively. But Martin deftly reveals the novel's affecting underpinning-the girls' adjustment to their new life without their parents. Helping sensitive Flora with the transition is her discovery of her mother's diary and a box of old photos and letters, which helps her feel that indeed there "was a place for her in this room, in this house, in this town." The sisters begin school in their new town in Needle and Thread, due in August. Ages 9-12. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Orphans Flora and Ruby are moving in with Min, their maternal grandmother. Min lives in 350-year-old Camden Falls, Mass., a town filled with all sorts of people who are ready to embrace the girls. Min's friendly sewing-and-needlepoint shop is the heart of the girls' new world. Camden Falls, with its row houses, quirky characters and strong, level-headed women is almost a character itself. For such a small town, there is a dizzying array of folks: an older boy with Down's Syndrome, an abused girl, a woman with Alzheimer's, a forgetful elderly black man, a shoplifter, a cranky shop owner and a girl who lives with her widowed father. Girls who have outgrown Cynthia Rylant's Cobble Street Cousins will find the same familiar sense of community here, and they will forgive the saccharine tone, especially when the narrator slips into the second-person voice. They will long to know how the girls fare in fourth and sixth grade and will be able to find out soon: The second in the series arrives in August just in time for school. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In Welcone to Camden Falls, Flora and her younger sister, Ruby, recently orphaned, have come to live with their grandmother, Min, who co-owns a fabric shop in a New England town. The adjustment to life in Camden Falls is difficult, but the girls make new friends, and Flora finds solace as she gets more deeply into her hobby, sewing. Martin does some unusual things here, telling the story from several perspectives and filling it with modern-day problems, even as the feel of the book harkens back to an earlier time. An almost dizzying array of characters is introduced, including one neighbor who has Down syndrome, another who has Alzheimer's disease, and a third who is struggling with aging. A new friend must deal with a mother who drinks and a father who is abusive. Sometimes these problems overwhelm the story, but Martin's easy style, appealing characters, and obvious love of place will keep readers going.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2007 Booklist