kfry83's review
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
t2p's review
4.0
I read this a long time ago, but I remember being very moved by it. It's a simple, beautiful story.
aklibrarychick's review
4.0
I needed a book to read last night while I was waiting for my slow-moving fourteen year old to get out of the shower and let me have my turn. This was on the shelf, so I grabbed it. I read half of it then and the rest when I got home from work today. Despite the gentleness and pastoral nature of the story, it was a page-turner. I wasn't sure whether to classify it as YA or juvenile, but since it was a discard from a high school library, I went with YA.
This series of vignettes follows a girl named Georgina in 19th century Ohio through the stages of her life as they relate to happenings in her family's "borning room." This room is set aside for birth and death. The first chapter opens with the impending arrival of Georgina's baby brother. Each chapter advances her in age a few more years and to another event associated with the room. Births, deaths, and serious illnesses affect Georgina and her family. Joys and tragedies come in their turn, and Georgina grows and changes along with them. Such a beautifully written and realized story.
This series of vignettes follows a girl named Georgina in 19th century Ohio through the stages of her life as they relate to happenings in her family's "borning room." This room is set aside for birth and death. The first chapter opens with the impending arrival of Georgina's baby brother. Each chapter advances her in age a few more years and to another event associated with the room. Births, deaths, and serious illnesses affect Georgina and her family. Joys and tragedies come in their turn, and Georgina grows and changes along with them. Such a beautifully written and realized story.
literallykaren's review
3.0
Cute book. Always liked it. Always will. And the part where the man comes and saves the day! I love that part.
viveelan's review against another edition
4.0
I can't get over that a man wrote this book. It's a juvenile fiction book and yet it deals with life and all its facets on a very adult level-some pretty difficult things to deal with. The turning points in life centered around birth and death- leaving family, prejudice, war, seasons, memories
melerihaf's review
5.0
This is a small book, which means I have read it over and over. It follows the important events of a girl growing up in Ohio before the American Civil War. Paul Fleischman is one of the few male authors who does a good job at writing female characters.
raehink's review
5.0
A pioneer girl's life, told through the scenes from her family's borning room...where all births and deaths take place. The cycles of life...birth, death, courtship, giving birth, death...are eloquently described. This is a most tender and uplifting book.
From the book: As a child of five, Grandfather had shaken the hand of the aged Benjamin Franklin and received the great freethinker's blessing. I wondered what hands Franklin had shaken, looked down at Grandfather's fingers in mine, and felt I was reaching back through the centuries. And just as Grandfather had never forgotten his New Hampshire past or his parents' mettle, I promised him I'd preserve his memory. The chain of hands would never be broken.
From the book: As a child of five, Grandfather had shaken the hand of the aged Benjamin Franklin and received the great freethinker's blessing. I wondered what hands Franklin had shaken, looked down at Grandfather's fingers in mine, and felt I was reaching back through the centuries. And just as Grandfather had never forgotten his New Hampshire past or his parents' mettle, I promised him I'd preserve his memory. The chain of hands would never be broken.
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