A review by aklibrarychick
The Borning Room by Paul Fleischman
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.