pattieod's review against another edition
4.0
Yankee though I am, I am a big sucker for this stuff, so I'm probably a really poor judge.
kdferrin's review against another edition
3.0
We read this for book club awhile ago and it doens't stick out in my mind as good or bad so obviously it isn't very memorable.
appalonia's review against another edition
4.0
An extremely well-written, gentle story of Jim Glass, a 10-year old boy growing up in the town of Aliceville, North Carolina during the Depression. Jim lives with his mother and three bachelor uncles after his father's death by heart failure at the young age of 23. The book explores Jim's relationship with his family, and his burgeoning awareness of the world beyond his family's property. An endearing cast of characters round out what is a good and wholesome story.
andrearuthelyn's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
a_canning's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. Just wow. I was skeptical of this book at first thinking my young niece would favor it instead seeming like a YA / Kids book but boy was I wrong.
This book was so beautifully written and took the reader on a journey with Jim through Year 10 of his life.
I was reminded of the raw emotions of being a child and observing everything around me, especially taking in all the adults are doing and expressing.
I felt the excitement of a boy seeing something new, hearing an upcoming train, feeling the baseball land in his glove, seeing the flowers grow and over take a mountain in absolute wonder.
This book was an absolute joy. I am extremely disappointed it ended so soon but will treasure the journey it took me on through a 10 year olds eyes. I can’t wait to read it again.
This book was so beautifully written and took the reader on a journey with Jim through Year 10 of his life.
I was reminded of the raw emotions of being a child and observing everything around me, especially taking in all the adults are doing and expressing.
I felt the excitement of a boy seeing something new, hearing an upcoming train, feeling the baseball land in his glove, seeing the flowers grow and over take a mountain in absolute wonder.
This book was an absolute joy. I am extremely disappointed it ended so soon but will treasure the journey it took me on through a 10 year olds eyes. I can’t wait to read it again.
msjoanna's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really fun book, though somewhat hard to classify. The cover picture and relatively simple language make it seem like a YA book, but the historical setting (in the 1930s) and the subtle coming of age story make it seem more directed to adults. The story is a nice mix of the realizations of Jim, the title character, and reflections on living in a rural town at the time.
The narrator for the audio version does an excellent job. I highly recommend this as an audiobook.
The narrator for the audio version does an excellent job. I highly recommend this as an audiobook.
farkle's review against another edition
4.0
For life in a simpler time, everything is still too big. A brief glimpse into the challenges of boyhood.
austen_to_zafon's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this book up at a used-book store, not knowing anything about it. I read it in one night and it was beautiful. I see a number of reviews that criticize the lack of "plot," but I found that in the book's favor. The book starts with Jim's 10th birthday and covers a year of his life in a small, rural North Carolina town in the 1930s. Jim's father died of heart failure a week before Jim was born and he is being raised on a farm by his mother and her three brothers. It's true. No much happens. But the things that do give Jim glimpses into the bigger world. It's the writing that made this book shine for me. "During the night something like aa miracle happened: Jim's age grew a digit. He was nine years old when he went to sleep, but ten years old when he woke up. The extra number had weight, like a muscle, and Jim hefted it like a prize. The uncles' ages each contained two numbers, and now Jim's age contained two numbers as well." "Mama was tall and handsome; her neck was long and white. Although she was not yet 30 years old, she wore a long, black skirt that had belonged to her mother. The skirt did not make her seem older, but rather made the people in the room around her feel odd, as if they had wandered into an old photograph, and did not know how to behave. On days Mama wore her long clothes, Jim didn't let the screen door slam." My 7-year-old son isn't quite ready for this book (or maybe I'm not ready for him to be confronted with some of the things in it), but I imagine in the next year or two. From a 10-year-old's perspective, race, marriage, death, modernization, bravery, loyalty, and meanness are some of issues perceived and sometimes grasped. I'm glad I read it w/o any preconceptions. I think the book suffers from being over-sold, as so often happens with notable books. You start comparing a book to "To Kill A Mockingbird" and you're going to get some backlash. But I definitely think this is a book with staying power.