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books_and_coffee_please's review
5.0
I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would, considering it's geared toward younger readers. I loved listening to Abby's story. It was an emotional, heartfelt coming-of-age tale set in the 1930s and 40s. The only criticism I have is that some chapters skipped years at a time, so there were moments I was thinking, wait - what happened since the last chapter?? At the same time, it felt like the author was treating her audience like they were smart enough to catch up, rather than talking down to them by spelling everything out.
matamgirl's review
4.0
This follows the story of Abby and her family who live in a small town in Maine during the Great Depression. Abby's father is not a pleasant person and her mother is fragile and weak. Abby is as you would expect a smart, strong heroine who has no problems standing up to him. The story follows Abby from age eight to age 22.
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book. This is a solid piece of middle grade historical fiction. I say this having removed my nostalgia goggles. Abby goes through a lot for a relatively short book. I was not sure how Martin would handle the transition for pre-teen to teenager and adult because the Babysitters Club members are forever thirteen! The story progresses through describing events on specific dates.
This is an e-galley from Netgalley.
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book. This is a solid piece of middle grade historical fiction. I say this having removed my nostalgia goggles. Abby goes through a lot for a relatively short book. I was not sure how Martin would handle the transition for pre-teen to teenager and adult because the Babysitters Club members are forever thirteen! The story progresses through describing events on specific dates.
This is an e-galley from Netgalley.
elllie's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this one, though I'm not 100% sure who I'd give it to. Probably girls who loved the Little House and Anne of Green Gables books.
This novel starts when Abby is 8 during the Great Depression and it follows her until she is 18 and has graduated from high school. As one might expect with a book that spans such a great amount of time, it almost feels weird having this in the kids section, though it is clearly a book for kids, marketed towards kids (same with all of the Little House books, where we have These Happy Golden Years (the first years of Laura and Almonzo's marriage) in the kids section).
As with many books about growing up, there are a couple of minor objectionable things in this book: one utterance of "dammit", getting an old-timey bra, a very brief mention of "alcohol consumption" (srsly that is how it is talked about), and an instance where Abby's awful father abuses his young, mentally handicapped son by trying to force feed him.
I'm excited for the rest of this series :)
This novel starts when Abby is 8 during the Great Depression and it follows her until she is 18 and has graduated from high school. As one might expect with a book that spans such a great amount of time, it almost feels weird having this in the kids section, though it is clearly a book for kids, marketed towards kids (same with all of the Little House books, where we have These Happy Golden Years (the first years of Laura and Almonzo's marriage) in the kids section).
As with many books about growing up, there are a couple of minor objectionable things in this book: one utterance of "dammit", getting an old-timey bra, a very brief mention of "alcohol consumption" (srsly that is how it is talked about), and an instance where Abby's awful father abuses his young, mentally handicapped son by trying to force feed him.
I'm excited for the rest of this series :)
hezann73's review
4.0
I agree with another reviewer that said this book gave them a bit of a Little House on the Prairie feel. That was the first thing I thought as I was reading this. It was good, but slightly bleaker than I thought it would be through most of the story.
Most likely a 6th grade read
Most likely a 6th grade read
alyssaarch's review
4.0
This is an incredibly cute historical fiction about a girl growing up in the 1930s and facing the challenges that life brings. While it has a strong optimistic, hopeful streak, it doesn’t shy away from the harsh reality of what life was like during this era: illness, poverty, etc. The novel follows Abby’s life from a young child to a burgeoning adult, giving a comprehensive look at her coming of age and allowing the reader to become good friends with her.
The fact that Ann M. Martin draws from her personal family history and includes tidbits about her grandmother’s life really adds to the story — it gives it a Laura Ingalls feel in that seems so real and true to the time period. Her strength anyway is creating such loveable, wonderful characters that you just immediately relate to, and that holds true with this series.
The story itself is told in brief intervals, hitting on important moments in Abby’s life, and then moving forward in time to hit on other important moments in the future. Because of this, the story doesn’t drag, even though it’s told as sort of a quiet reflection and has very little action. The pacing is actually quite perfect; I felt like I got just enough of everything and was sufficiently connected to the characters and motivated to read more.
I picked this up because I was interested to see how Ann M. Martin’s writing would be outside of the Babysitter’s Club books, and I couldn’t have been more pleased. My verdict is that it’s just as readable and has just as amazing characters to love. I highly recommend this for Martin fans and for younger readers who might have an interest in historical fiction. Definitely pick it up if your children are American Girl or Laura Ingalls fans — it’s right up that alley.
Also posted on Purple People Readers.
The fact that Ann M. Martin draws from her personal family history and includes tidbits about her grandmother’s life really adds to the story — it gives it a Laura Ingalls feel in that seems so real and true to the time period. Her strength anyway is creating such loveable, wonderful characters that you just immediately relate to, and that holds true with this series.
The story itself is told in brief intervals, hitting on important moments in Abby’s life, and then moving forward in time to hit on other important moments in the future. Because of this, the story doesn’t drag, even though it’s told as sort of a quiet reflection and has very little action. The pacing is actually quite perfect; I felt like I got just enough of everything and was sufficiently connected to the characters and motivated to read more.
I picked this up because I was interested to see how Ann M. Martin’s writing would be outside of the Babysitter’s Club books, and I couldn’t have been more pleased. My verdict is that it’s just as readable and has just as amazing characters to love. I highly recommend this for Martin fans and for younger readers who might have an interest in historical fiction. Definitely pick it up if your children are American Girl or Laura Ingalls fans — it’s right up that alley.
Also posted on Purple People Readers.
jennmayo99's review
4.0
I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. I enjoyed how this was written like a memoir. I would have liked one chapter in between the last two to cover some of the 5 year gap.
mrskatiefitz's review
5.0
In the year 2022, Abby Nichols turns 100 years old. As she looks back on her life, she recalls her entire girlhood, from age 8 to age 22, remembering the many ups and downs she endured under the rule of her controlling father. She remembers her little brother, Fred, born with unexplained mental and physical problems, her mother who lay in bed haunted by the memory of two babies who didn't survive, and who never had the courage to stand up to her husband, and the secret friendships Abby maintained with people her father hated - mainly Catholics and Democrats. Through it all, Abby keeps things in perspective, and when she is old enough to make up her own mind, she does so, for better or for worse.
Better to Wish is the first book in a planned set of four stories that will explore the childhoods of four different women from four generations of the same family. In a lot of ways, this book is everything I fear about historical fiction. There is a lot of unhappiness, a lot of death, and a lot of unfairness, which, at times, can make the story seem grim. Abby's father is an oppressive presence in the story, and his cruelty only seems to grow as the years pass by. Abby's mother is an obvious victim of her husband's controlling nature, and Fred, too, ultimately suffers punishment for being "different." Because this book is by Ann M. Martin, however, I didn't run screaming from it when I realized it would make me sad. Somehow, through her gentle, straightforward style, Martin makes it comfortable to explore these darker aspects of growing up. She foreshadows bad things before they happen, so the reader is never blindsided, and Abby is such a strong main character, the reader always winds up feeling that she has everything under control.
I find it wonderful that no matter what Ann M. Martin writes, there is always something in it to remind me of the Baby-sitters Club. She creates characters who seem like real children, and whose interactions with one another ring true. Though this book takes place between 1930 and 1942, the dialogue sounds fresh and feels contemporary. Martin brings the entire time period to life by making the characters very accessible to her audience. Abby's relationship with her sisters Rose and Adele reminds me a lot of similar relationships in others of Ann M. Martin's books - Kristy and Karen in the Baby-sitters Club, Pearl and Lexie in Ten Rules for Living with My Sister, and even the relationships among the Rosso kids in Ten Kids, No Pets. It makes me so happy to be able to enjoy new books by my favorite childhood author, even as an adult.
Historical fiction readers who enjoy the American Girl books will be drawn to this new series, but I think even realistic fiction readers who normally avoid historical fiction will find it hard to pass up a series that explores so many interesting connections between generations.
Better to Wish is the first book in a planned set of four stories that will explore the childhoods of four different women from four generations of the same family. In a lot of ways, this book is everything I fear about historical fiction. There is a lot of unhappiness, a lot of death, and a lot of unfairness, which, at times, can make the story seem grim. Abby's father is an oppressive presence in the story, and his cruelty only seems to grow as the years pass by. Abby's mother is an obvious victim of her husband's controlling nature, and Fred, too, ultimately suffers punishment for being "different." Because this book is by Ann M. Martin, however, I didn't run screaming from it when I realized it would make me sad. Somehow, through her gentle, straightforward style, Martin makes it comfortable to explore these darker aspects of growing up. She foreshadows bad things before they happen, so the reader is never blindsided, and Abby is such a strong main character, the reader always winds up feeling that she has everything under control.
I find it wonderful that no matter what Ann M. Martin writes, there is always something in it to remind me of the Baby-sitters Club. She creates characters who seem like real children, and whose interactions with one another ring true. Though this book takes place between 1930 and 1942, the dialogue sounds fresh and feels contemporary. Martin brings the entire time period to life by making the characters very accessible to her audience. Abby's relationship with her sisters Rose and Adele reminds me a lot of similar relationships in others of Ann M. Martin's books - Kristy and Karen in the Baby-sitters Club, Pearl and Lexie in Ten Rules for Living with My Sister, and even the relationships among the Rosso kids in Ten Kids, No Pets. It makes me so happy to be able to enjoy new books by my favorite childhood author, even as an adult.
Historical fiction readers who enjoy the American Girl books will be drawn to this new series, but I think even realistic fiction readers who normally avoid historical fiction will find it hard to pass up a series that explores so many interesting connections between generations.
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