Tag / newspapers

by cholliman1

Hattie Ever After by Kirby Larson

 

hattieeverafter

The Plot in 5 Sentences or Less:  After she failed at running her Uncle Chester’s farm, Hattie Brooks is now working in a boardinghouse in Great Falls, Montana in 1919.  Seeking to become a big city reporter, she makes her way to San Francisco with an acting troupe.  She also wants to meet one Ruby Danvers, who apparently was very close to her uncle, and find out the background of their relationship.  Through her pluck and determination, Hattie makes great progress in her career as a reporter, taking a ride in a new Boeing airplane and even meeting Woodrow Wilson.  But Hattie must eventually make a choice between staying in San Francisco or following her true love Charlie.  

My Take:  Having not read Hattie Big Sky, I still felt that this was a fine, well written book about a girl trying to make it in the big city in the early 20th century.  I can’t say that it was the most exciting book that I’ve read, the narrative is driven more by the relationships that Hattie makes rather than any action, but girls will find a lot to like in the character of Hattie.  Ages 9+

One Interesting Note About the Author:  According to her website, Kirby Larson originally wrote Hattie Big Sky inspired by her great-grandmother’s homesteading experience in eastern Montana.

 

 

 

by cholliman1

Paperboy by Vince Vawter

paperboy_vawter

The Plot (in 5 sentences or less):  Set in 1959 Memphis, Tennessee, an 11 year old takes over a friend’s paper route for a few weeks during the summer.  The young man suffers from  stuttering and it colors his entire life.  As he slowly makes his rounds, he becomes involved in the lives of his customers which opens up greater questions.  What should he do, for example, about the possible domestic abuse suffered by one lady or the riddles scribbled on a dollar bill given to him by one erudite man?  Events come to a violent head when his housekeeper confronts the local homeless man about some items stolen from the household.

My Take:  Credit should be given to Mr. Vawter for using a protagonist with a speech impediment.  Any teen with a stuttering challenge should absolutely read this book.  The author does an excellent job of showing the reader what it is like to live daily with this problem.

    Vawter has a restrained writing style that allows him to slowly construct the characters and the plot.  Because of this, Paperboy may be too slowly plotted for some young readers.  Much of the book is committed to the narrator’s cautious approach to building relationships with adults in his life.  Still, towards the end of the book, I did get some goosebumps, that visceral test of any work of art.

One Interesting Note About the Author: Vince Vawter’s first memory of his stutter is just before the age of 5.  Despite his stutter, he has had a rewarding career in newspapers.  As he tell it in the author’s note, “have I been cured of my stutter? No.  Have I overcome it?  Yes.”