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marcidarling's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
yapha's review against another edition
3.0
If you are looking for a new series to recommend to readers that have finished the Little House books and/or Anne of Green Gables, Family Tree by Ann M. Martin may be the answer.
Abby Nichols is growing up in Maine during the Great Depression. Times are tough all around, and changes within the family can make things even harder. We watch Abby grow up and adapt, moving houses, changing friends, until the book ends after she graduates from high school. There are good times and bad, and some of the bad times are very, very sad. The story continues in book 2 of the series, The Long Way Home, with Abby's daughter Dana as a main character. Recommended for grades 4-7, for lovers of historical fiction and family sagas.
Abby Nichols is growing up in Maine during the Great Depression. Times are tough all around, and changes within the family can make things even harder. We watch Abby grow up and adapt, moving houses, changing friends, until the book ends after she graduates from high school. There are good times and bad, and some of the bad times are very, very sad. The story continues in book 2 of the series, The Long Way Home, with Abby's daughter Dana as a main character. Recommended for grades 4-7, for lovers of historical fiction and family sagas.
jessalynn_librarian's review against another edition
3.0
I would have enjoyed this as a historical fiction loving kid. The story follows Abby as she grows up, dealing with changes both good and bad. Because of the episodic nature of the story, each new time period often starts with an info dump - a character saying something in a slightly unnatural way to give the reader a clue as to how much time has passed and which major events have happened in the gap. This saves time, but certainly isn't the most polished way to establish time passing. I also had a bit of an eye roll when Anyway, I'd recommend this to young historical fiction fans who are interested in seeing a character grow to adulthood. The romance is minimal and very proper - the family drama and tragedies are the real emotional intensity here, and might make the story difficult for more sensitive kids.
Spoiler
Abby's friend drowned - especially with Rose shouting, "no, don't go out on the ice" (or whatever she said). It didn't quite feel earned.mountie9's review against another edition
5.0
4.5/5
The Good Stuff
Very realistic and true to the time period (warning some of it is quite sad and may be hard for the more sensitive reader but it is written beautifully and appropriate for the age level)
Abby is a strong willed likeable character that you will cheer for
Loved the relationship between Abby and Rose
Moral issues are done in a non preachy way which is an impressive feat for middle grade fiction
Will encourage readers to learn more about this period of history
Liked the slice of life and how the series will go through 4 generations of women. Reminded me a little of a series by Phillappa Carr that I read when I was a teen. This type of series really appeals to me
All of the characters feel very real and act appropriately for this period of time
Looking forward to reading the rest of the series
Lovely use of humour
The Not So Good Stuff
Jumpy at times
Father is a misogynistic racist jerk
Favorite Quotes/Passages
"Long years later, when Abby was old, very old, she liked to recall this evening. Not because Rose had lost her dime, of course, but because it was pleasant to dwell in this time when losing a dime was the biggest worry she and Rose faced. They hadn't yet learned that it was better not to know what was waiting for them around the corner."
"When we grow up," said Sarah, "we should tell our husbands that we have to live next door to each other so that we can see each other every single day and our children can be best friends, too."
Who Should/Shouldn't Read
Great book for middle grade girls who are not into the paranormal
Some more sensitive middle graders might want to stay away as it deals with darker subject matter like mental issues, racism, death and depression
Fans of the babysitter's club will enjoy this series as the writing style is the same and highlights the importance of friendships
4.5 Dewey's
I received this from Scholastic in exchange for an honest review
The Good Stuff
Very realistic and true to the time period (warning some of it is quite sad and may be hard for the more sensitive reader but it is written beautifully and appropriate for the age level)
Abby is a strong willed likeable character that you will cheer for
Loved the relationship between Abby and Rose
Moral issues are done in a non preachy way which is an impressive feat for middle grade fiction
Will encourage readers to learn more about this period of history
Liked the slice of life and how the series will go through 4 generations of women. Reminded me a little of a series by Phillappa Carr that I read when I was a teen. This type of series really appeals to me
All of the characters feel very real and act appropriately for this period of time
Looking forward to reading the rest of the series
Lovely use of humour
The Not So Good Stuff
Jumpy at times
Father is a misogynistic racist jerk
Favorite Quotes/Passages
"Long years later, when Abby was old, very old, she liked to recall this evening. Not because Rose had lost her dime, of course, but because it was pleasant to dwell in this time when losing a dime was the biggest worry she and Rose faced. They hadn't yet learned that it was better not to know what was waiting for them around the corner."
"When we grow up," said Sarah, "we should tell our husbands that we have to live next door to each other so that we can see each other every single day and our children can be best friends, too."
Who Should/Shouldn't Read
Great book for middle grade girls who are not into the paranormal
Some more sensitive middle graders might want to stay away as it deals with darker subject matter like mental issues, racism, death and depression
Fans of the babysitter's club will enjoy this series as the writing style is the same and highlights the importance of friendships
4.5 Dewey's
I received this from Scholastic in exchange for an honest review
glampingmom21's review against another edition
2.0
Very depressing book!!!! Very sad!!! Not what I was expecting at all!!!
finesilkflower's review against another edition
2.0
I really want to like this series, because I'm a diehard Ann M. Martin fan and I really like the idea of a series where time passes and time periods change and characters grow up and change. It's like the polar opposite of the Baby-sitters Club, where everything is frozen in time. But the actual book just felt so rushed. Each chapter is a snapshot in time, occurring usually 6 months but up to 5 years after the previous chapter. It's feels like a fast-motion slide carousel ride through a person's life. There's no time to settle down and enjoy it. Some of the chapters depict key family events (births, deaths, etc.); others are more slice-of-life, often involving the origin story of some object that will undoubtedly be a family heirloom in the next book.
Like I said, I like the ideas, but I keep thinking of ways it could have been done better. Maybe if it had stuck with a smaller age range, something like 14-18 instead of 8-22. Young enough to be interesting to kids, but old enough that each girl is making decisions that affect the next generation. Or to cover more time, it could have been a longer-term series, with several books for each girl. Like imagine if a kid-grows-up series like Betsy-Tacy or Alice McKinley actually spanned generations and started over with Betsy or Alice's child at age 8 or whatever? You wouldn't even need that many books for each kid, but at least 4 or 5 would be a lot better: a kid, a pre-teen, a teen, a young woman making important life decisions. Maybe Ann M didn't want to wait that long before moving onto the other generations? ooh, but it could have intercut between the various generations, wouldn't that have been cool? A book for each girl, each occurring in a different time period, then you go back again for the next age.
Ah, well.
I think I could have gotten used to the storytelling more if the characters had been a bit more developed. There's not a lot of time to explore them, especially children, who can change a lot from one chapter to the next. But even given the constraints, they're pretty sketched-in. main character Abby is particularly bland, the boring goody-goody older sister who should not be the POV character. (Little sister Rose is more of a firecracker and should obviously be the main character.) The dad is a plain and simple villain with no redeeming qualities. None of the various love interests get enough personality to be compelling or to make you root for him.
Still, it's historical girl-fiction, it's Ann M., of course I'm going to read the rest!
Like I said, I like the ideas, but I keep thinking of ways it could have been done better. Maybe if it had stuck with a smaller age range, something like 14-18 instead of 8-22. Young enough to be interesting to kids, but old enough that each girl is making decisions that affect the next generation. Or to cover more time, it could have been a longer-term series, with several books for each girl. Like imagine if a kid-grows-up series like Betsy-Tacy or Alice McKinley actually spanned generations and started over with Betsy or Alice's child at age 8 or whatever? You wouldn't even need that many books for each kid, but at least 4 or 5 would be a lot better: a kid, a pre-teen, a teen, a young woman making important life decisions. Maybe Ann M didn't want to wait that long before moving onto the other generations? ooh, but it could have intercut between the various generations, wouldn't that have been cool? A book for each girl, each occurring in a different time period, then you go back again for the next age.
Ah, well.
I think I could have gotten used to the storytelling more if the characters had been a bit more developed. There's not a lot of time to explore them, especially children, who can change a lot from one chapter to the next. But even given the constraints, they're pretty sketched-in. main character Abby is particularly bland, the boring goody-goody older sister who should not be the POV character. (Little sister Rose is more of a firecracker and should obviously be the main character.) The dad is a plain and simple villain with no redeeming qualities. None of the various love interests get enough personality to be compelling or to make you root for him
Spoiler
(the only one that sort of does, isn't the winner)Still, it's historical girl-fiction, it's Ann M., of course I'm going to read the rest!
amyjoy's review against another edition
3.0
This was so sweet. Each chapter focuses on a different time in the main characters life, from when she's 8 until she's 23, and I just loved the picture painted if growing up in the 1930's in rural Maine. It was a quick, good for all ages read, and I will definitely check out the other books in the series.
backonthealex's review against another edition
4.0
In 2022, Abby Nicols is 100 years old. and as she says in the Prologue, when you are as old as she is, you have the pleasure of looking over your life and revisiting different days. And that is exactly what Abby does, being in August 1930 when she is eight years old and ending in February 1945, when she is 22 years old.
In between, the reader gets to know quiet intelligent Abby, her younger impetuous, more out spoken sister Rose, her depressed, weak willed Mama, Nel, still grieving for the two babies that didn't survive rather than focusing on her two living daughters, and her controlling, bigoted Pop, Luther, a carpenter.
As the story begins, the depression has already begun to affect people's lives. Money is scarce and work even scarcer, though Pop goes to work every day. Eventually, as city people begin to buy houses in the area to use as summer homes, Pop's business grows and soon there is money enough, but there is also sadness and heartbreak enough.
Mama has another baby, a boy named Fred, but he has severe undefined developmental issues. Fred proves to be almost an unbearable embarrassment to Pop that one day he has him institutionalized behind the family's back. Mama's depression gets worse and not even the birth of a healthy little girl named Adele helps her.
Though Rose is the sassy sister, the one you might think is or will be the rebel in the family, it is actually quiet Abby who continues to be friends with Orrin despite her father's demand that she have nothing to do with him because Pop had decided his parent are lazy French Canadian, Catholics who refuse to work. And Orrin isn't the only friend who would not meet her Pop's approval.
Better to Wish is very much like Abby: it quietly goes along revealing meaningful episodes in her life that ultimately bring Abby to the decisions she makes in 1945. Along the way, Abby experiences her share of happiness and unhappiness, fulfilment and disappointment, kindness and cruelty, life and death.
Better to Wish is a nice historical fiction novel, written in the same vein as the American Girl books, but for a slightly older reader and with a much darker side. In the American Girl books, times may be hard, but the main character's family isn't. They are loving, kind and supportive. Here, times are hard and life at home is often cold, disagreeable and unsympathetic. And yet, I found myself so totally drawn into this compelling, coming of age story.
The novel is written episodically, with about two or three intense entries per year, done to resemble the reminiscences of the 100 year old Abby. These skillfully presented kaleidoscopic bits of Abby's life come together to give the reader a clear picture and understand of growing up in the clutches of the depression.
Better to Wish is the first book in a series of four about one girl in succeeding generations within a family. As author Ann M. Martin explained in Time for Kids "the books are about the highs and lows that each girl faces as she grows up during a different period of history." And if the name Ann M. Martin sounds familiar, you probably remember her from her other series called The Baby-Sitters Club.
The next book, The Long Way Home, will be about Abby's daughter Dana and is due out in November 2013. And I can't wait to read it.
This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was obtained from the publisher
The review was originally published at Randomly Reading
In between, the reader gets to know quiet intelligent Abby, her younger impetuous, more out spoken sister Rose, her depressed, weak willed Mama, Nel, still grieving for the two babies that didn't survive rather than focusing on her two living daughters, and her controlling, bigoted Pop, Luther, a carpenter.
As the story begins, the depression has already begun to affect people's lives. Money is scarce and work even scarcer, though Pop goes to work every day. Eventually, as city people begin to buy houses in the area to use as summer homes, Pop's business grows and soon there is money enough, but there is also sadness and heartbreak enough.
Mama has another baby, a boy named Fred, but he has severe undefined developmental issues. Fred proves to be almost an unbearable embarrassment to Pop that one day he has him institutionalized behind the family's back. Mama's depression gets worse and not even the birth of a healthy little girl named Adele helps her.
Though Rose is the sassy sister, the one you might think is or will be the rebel in the family, it is actually quiet Abby who continues to be friends with Orrin despite her father's demand that she have nothing to do with him because Pop had decided his parent are lazy French Canadian, Catholics who refuse to work. And Orrin isn't the only friend who would not meet her Pop's approval.
Better to Wish is very much like Abby: it quietly goes along revealing meaningful episodes in her life that ultimately bring Abby to the decisions she makes in 1945. Along the way, Abby experiences her share of happiness and unhappiness, fulfilment and disappointment, kindness and cruelty, life and death.
Better to Wish is a nice historical fiction novel, written in the same vein as the American Girl books, but for a slightly older reader and with a much darker side. In the American Girl books, times may be hard, but the main character's family isn't. They are loving, kind and supportive. Here, times are hard and life at home is often cold, disagreeable and unsympathetic. And yet, I found myself so totally drawn into this compelling, coming of age story.
The novel is written episodically, with about two or three intense entries per year, done to resemble the reminiscences of the 100 year old Abby. These skillfully presented kaleidoscopic bits of Abby's life come together to give the reader a clear picture and understand of growing up in the clutches of the depression.
Better to Wish is the first book in a series of four about one girl in succeeding generations within a family. As author Ann M. Martin explained in Time for Kids "the books are about the highs and lows that each girl faces as she grows up during a different period of history." And if the name Ann M. Martin sounds familiar, you probably remember her from her other series called The Baby-Sitters Club.
The next book, The Long Way Home, will be about Abby's daughter Dana and is due out in November 2013. And I can't wait to read it.
This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was obtained from the publisher
The review was originally published at Randomly Reading
monapearl's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
5.0
Very beloved to me. I haven't read it in four years, but before that, I probably read it four times. I adored it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism
hollyberry_1980's review
4.0
I will have to admit that this is my first middle grade book that I have read in a while, and it will not be my last, it reminded me what I love about middle grade so much. The writing is very simple, but there is always really good lessons for kids in them, and some lessons that I think (some) adults need to be reminded of!
What I really liked about this book was looking back at what life was like starting in the 30's, no computers, cell phones, etc that make life feel so rushed now a days. The mothers made the daughter their dresses, unless they were wealthy enough to go to the store and buy a dress. The games the kids would make up and play outside (something I think kids do not do enough of these days at all!), how going to a fair with a dime would last you for a few hours, going to the drug store with your friend for an ice cream scoop. I am sure that there were draw backs, but life just seemed a little simpler back then, less stressful.
I really enjoyed reading about Abby and her family, and even though it was a very different time period, the same kinds of situations happen now, for example, once Abby's father starts getting more work, he feels the need to "prove" to society that he is making it, and that they are now part of the wealthy crowd by buying the kids flashy gifts, and moving in to a big house, and hiring a maid. Abby picks up on this, and wishes that they could have stayed in their own home and that her dad would pay attention to her more, and know what she wanted for her birthday.
There is a lot of family drama in this book, and it was great to see Abby grow through the book, and come to be her own person. Also I cannot wait to read more about this family in the future books, it seems like it is going to be a great series. The events that happen in this book are things that happen all the time now, so I think kids will be able to relate to this book for sure. I give this a 4/5, and am really looking forward to more!
What I really liked about this book was looking back at what life was like starting in the 30's, no computers, cell phones, etc that make life feel so rushed now a days. The mothers made the daughter their dresses, unless they were wealthy enough to go to the store and buy a dress. The games the kids would make up and play outside (something I think kids do not do enough of these days at all!), how going to a fair with a dime would last you for a few hours, going to the drug store with your friend for an ice cream scoop. I am sure that there were draw backs, but life just seemed a little simpler back then, less stressful.
I really enjoyed reading about Abby and her family, and even though it was a very different time period, the same kinds of situations happen now, for example, once Abby's father starts getting more work, he feels the need to "prove" to society that he is making it, and that they are now part of the wealthy crowd by buying the kids flashy gifts, and moving in to a big house, and hiring a maid. Abby picks up on this, and wishes that they could have stayed in their own home and that her dad would pay attention to her more, and know what she wanted for her birthday.
There is a lot of family drama in this book, and it was great to see Abby grow through the book, and come to be her own person. Also I cannot wait to read more about this family in the future books, it seems like it is going to be a great series. The events that happen in this book are things that happen all the time now, so I think kids will be able to relate to this book for sure. I give this a 4/5, and am really looking forward to more!