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Library | Material Type | Item Barcode | Shelf Number | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library | Juvenile Fiction Book Hardback | 120791001538632 | J RAY | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Eleven-year-old April Sloane has never set foot in a school before, and now that President Hoover and his wife are building a one-room schoolhouse in the hollow of the Blue Ridge Mountains where April lives, she is eager to attend it. But these are the Depression years, and Mama, who has been grieving ever since the accidental death of her seven-year-old son, wants April to stay home and do the chores around their dilapidated farm. With her grandmother's intercession, April is grudgingly allowed to go. The kind teacher encourages her apt pupil, who finds a new world opening up to her. But at home, April cannot repair the relationship with her mother, and worse, her mother overhears the dark secret April confesses to her teacher regarding the true cause of her brother's death, for which April feels responsible. The author has used her own experience growing up in a rural area of northern Virginia to create the vivid characters and authentic dialogue and background detail that characterize this finely honed debut novel. She has based the one-room schoolhouse on papers in the Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch, Iowa, which include letters between the White House and the young teacher who taught at the school.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-April Sloane is called "ghost girl" because of her white-blonde hair and light eyes. She feels like a ghost because since the accidental death of her younger brother a year previously, her mother has fallen in to a deep depression and never seems to see her any more. The 11-year-old lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains and has never attended school, so when she learns that President Hoover and his wife are building one nearby, she is thrilled. However, her mother flatly refuses to let her go, until her grandmother, Aunt Birdy, intervenes. April is an eager student and loves her teacher, Miss Vest, but her mother soon pulls her out and rejects all appeals-from April, Aunt Birdy, and Miss Vest. Then, April's secret about her brother's death comes to light, resulting in a two-year estrangement between the girl and her parents, only somewhat healed when Aunt Birdy falls ill and dies. During those two years, April lives with Miss Vest and realizes that the future is waiting for her. There are many novels out about the lives of mountain children, but this excellent portrayal of four important years in a girl's life rises to the top. Based on a real school and teacher, this novel seamlessly incorporates historical facts into the narrative. April is an engaging character, always eager to learn but also struggling with her desire for her mother's approval. A first-rate purchase for all libraries.-Terrie Dorio, Santa Monica Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate, Middle School) Eleven-year-old April Sloane's isolated life in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia begins to change when President and Mrs. Hoover announce plans to start a school in her community. April hopes to learn to read and, above all, to get to know the vibrant, sophisticated young teacher, Miss Vest, so different from April's cold, proud mother. Still grieving over the accidental death of April's little brother Riley, Mama at first refuses to let April attend. When she relents, April finds school a frustrating and sometimes humiliating experience. She struggles with reading, despite the skill of her caring teacher. Her lack of confidence, guilt over her brother's death, and shame at being called ""ghost girl"" (because of her light coloring and slight build) hold her back. When April finally confesses what really happened the night Riley died, Mama rejects her, and April realizes that her support must come from somewhere besides home. Nothing is pat or predictable in Ray's debut novel (based on the letters of the real Christine Vest); the author cares too much about the complicated characters and setting to allow the novel to spiral into sentimentality. The mountains are beautiful and sustaining, yet suffocating. April's parents are strong and caring but so stubborn that they reject their remaining child. April's coming-of-age (the book ends when she is fourteen) and coming to terms with her family is poignant, realistic, and somber, and reflective of the strength April has found within. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Eleven-year-old April Sloane lives an isolated life on Doubletop Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, so she doesn't believe it when her friend Dewey Jessup claims to have met President Hoover at his new summer place down the mountain. But when the president starts a mountain school and hires Miss Vest as the new teacher, April's world begins to expand. Miss Vest introduces her to such wonders as indoor plumbing, hot chocolate, marshmallows, reading, and the Sears, Roebuck catalogue. April gets to know Mrs. Hoover and even visits her at the White House. Though the outside world has its wonders, so does April's mountain life, and with the help of Miss Vest, Aunt Birdy, and Mama, April finds her place in that world. Ray's loving attention to setting, character, and detail makes this debut special, a quiet and subtle evocation of a time and a place based on real events and a real teacher. (author's note) (Fiction. 10-14) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 5-8. When President Hoover sets up a one-room schoolhouse in the mountains of rural Virginia during the Depression, 12-year-old April Sloane is thrilled at the chance to learn to read. But her bitter mother blames her for the accidental death of April's little brother in their cabin and refuses to allow the girl to attend school. With the help of her grandmother and an inspiring, supportive teacher, Miss Vest, April does get to go to school--and she finally learns to read by making a wish list from the Sears, Roebuck catalog. To do that, she must first overcome her guilt and wrench herself from home and from her angry mother, who is locked in grief. In a long afterword, first-novelist Ray fills in the fascinating historical detail about Hoover, the mountain school, and Christine Vest. But it's the local family story that will haunt readers, especially since there's no patched-on happy solution to the poverty, anger, and sorrow. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2003 Booklist