Book Review: So Far From Home (Dear America) by Barry Denenberg

So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1847 by Barry Denenberg
Dear America Diary Series
Hardcover, 170 pages
Scholastic Inc
October 1, 1997
★★★★☆

Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult

Source: Personal collection

In the diary account of her journey from Ireland in 1847 and of her work in a mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, fourteen-year-old Mary reveals a great longing for her family.

I picked up So Far From Home right after I came back from a trip to the Lowell Mills in Lowell, Massachusetts; I love being able to match a book with an experience! I had the opportunity to walk through some of the mills (experience a smidge of the noise created there) as well as the boarding houses where many of the girls would have lived. I wanted to see how Lowell stacked up in a novel treatment, especially one for young adults.

The novel takes on 2 topics that are nicely tied together: the first being the plight of the Irish facing famine at home that led to many choosing to flee to America, the second being how these immigrants were treated upon arrival in the United States. Mary and her family are caught up in the famine at home. Some of the family makes the tough decision to emigrate while some choose to remain at home and live through it. It was hard to think that people would choose to remain behind and continue to live in those conditions, but that was the life they knew and who knew what they would find in the new country. These concerns and arguments for and against were thoroughly explored. The ship voyage was treacherous and while I had thought about and read about the immigrant arrival experience before, So Far From Home did a great job of showing how scary that would have been; how do you find your family and figure out how to get where you are going, especially if you don’t speak the language. Mary’s experiences at the mills showed how the Irish immigrants were taken advantage of and asked to perform the more difficult and dangerous tasks. In total, I think the experience here was perfectly depicted.

One thing I didn’t like was how the book ended. It ends abruptly with Mary headed out for a new experience, which sounds like it could be rather dramatic and I thought it would have been interesting to explore that experience more. It just felt a little bit unresolved to me.

I always enjoy the bonus content included in these books as it expands on the reading experience without me needing to go do my own research. Included in this novel are images of the mills (inside and out), boarding houses, some sheet music for a lullaby that is mentioned in the novel and, what I found most interesting, the time schedules and pay scales for the mills.

Overall, this is a great novel to include for any kids learning about the industrial revolution or to expand upon a visit to the National Park. It’s sad that it’s not one of the few of the Diaries that is currently in print at this time.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Through the Looking Glass Children’s Book Reviews

Buy the Book: AbeBooks

Other Book in the Dear America Series:

A Journey to the New World

The Winter of Red Snow
[My Review]

When Will This Cruel War Be Over?

A Picture of Freedom

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie
[My Review]

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly
[My Review]

West to a Land of Plenty

Dreams in the Golden Country

Standing in the Light

Voyage on the Great Titanic

A Line in the Sand

My Heart is on the Ground

The Great Railroad Race

A Light in the Storm

The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow

A Coal Miner’s Bride

Color Me Dark

One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping

My Secret War
[My Review]

Valley of the Moon

Seeds of Hope

Christmas After All

Early Sunday Morning

My Face to the Wind

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

A Time for Courage

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Survival in the Storm

When Christmas Comes Again

Land of the Buffalo Bones

Love Thy Neighbor

All the Stars in the Sky

Look to the Hills

Hear My Sorrow

I Walk in Dread

The Fences Between Us

Like The Willow Tree

Cannons at Dawn

With the Might of Angels

Behind the Masks

A City Tossed and Broken

Down the Rabbit Hole

Find Dear America series here.

 
Copyright © 2017 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly by Joyce Hansen

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl, Mars Bluff, South Carolina, 1865
by Joyce Hansen
Dear America Diary Series
Unabridged, 4 hr.
Scholastic
Barbara Rosenblat and Sisi Johnson (Narrator)
July 30, 2005
★★★½☆☆

Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult

Source: Downloaded to audio from my local library

“Patsy, an orphaned slave, has taught herself to read and write on the sly. After the Civil War ends and slavery is abolished, Patsy believes her master will keep his word and pay the former house slaves and provide an education for the slave children. But when Master Davis ignores his promise to establish a school, and the Freedmen’s Bureau can’t send a teacher, Patsy steps in to teach the students, old and young, to read and write.

Patsy’s diary is filled with courage, conviction, and hope as she strives toward freedom—freedom from slavery and freedom from the limitations placed on her by others.”

This book in the series takes place on a plantation in South Carolina just after the end of the Civil War. Patsy, our diary writer, is now a former slave trying to figure out what it means to be “free”. Being free seems to be almost the same as being a slave when many of the things promised to them do not materialize but Patsy is determined to be truly free.

This is truly a coming of age story – but not in your typical way. At the beginning of the book Patsy is quiet and perfectly content to hang out in the background. But as things start to change and she realizes that she has something that all her fellow men and women on the plantation need – the ability to read and write – she begins to find herself much more in demand and important. This happens in a very natural way, given the situation.

This story might be a little more difficult for younger readers to connect with especially if they don’t have a working knowledge of the Pre-Civil War and Reconstruction life for African-Americans. However, if they do have some knowledge of the times, this book gives an insightful view of what a former slave’s life might have been like immediately following the end of slavery.

★★★★☆

The narrator did a pretty good job of nailing the manner with which the young Patsy speaks and fills her narration with the feeling of wonder and interest with everything. You really get the feeling that she is whispering her secrets to her journal in a corner like she would wish a friend.

This is author Joyce Hansen’s only book in the Dear America Diary series however she has written several of fiction and non-fiction works. You can visit her website for additional information. If you are looking for further discussion about this book with you children, check out this discussion and activity guide from Scholastic.

My reviews of other books in this series:

• Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie
• Winter of the Red Snow
• My Secret War

Reviews of this book by others:

• The Hope Chest Reviews
• Ana Mardoll’s Ramblings

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court

Audiobook Review: My Secret War (Dear America) by Mary Pope Osborne

My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck,
Long Island New York, 1941 by Mary Pope Osborne
Dear America series
Unabridged, 3 hr. 15 min.
Scholastic
Barbara Rosenblat (Narrator)
April 1, 2008
★★★★☆

Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult

Source: Downloaded audio from my local library

“In a diary that brings to life the dramatic happenings on the home front during World War II, Madeline Beck is living in a boardinghouse with her mother while her father is on an aircraft carrier guarding the Pacific Coast. After discovering that a German U-boat has landed near her home - a little-known, true incident on Long Island - she and her classmates form "Kids Fight for Freedom" and participate in the home front war effort.”

This is another diary in the Dear America series this time focusing on the home-front effort during World War II. I haven’t read very much set during WWII, but what I have has primarily been set abroad. Not only was it new and interesting to see how the home-front reacted to the war, but also to see it from a child/teenager perspective was novel. We see many of the typical things such as book, blood, scrap and can drives, but I really liked how Madeline founded the “Kids Fight for Freedom” club. I’m sure that there were many such clubs like this where even the kids were doing what they could to ensure that their fathers/brothers/relatives would come home.

The main character’s father is in the military so we see what it is like to have a family member serving overseas. The letters that they send and receive are so precious to them and are a lifeline throughout the war. Madeline and her crush get caught up in the secret German U-boat landing. While this is a real event, it almost felt fantastical the way it was portrayed. The events surrounding the landing felt like right out of a spy/action novel rather than what you would necessarily expect from a Dear America novel.

This was a different take on the typical war story. There is sadness and dark times, but also times where the characters pull together to help each other through and forge deep ties with other community members. Even as an adult, I learned a lot about the way of life in a small town during this time period.

★★★★★

The narrator of this book was FABULOUS! I always say that when listening to a diary, the narrator has to be very convincing and truly evoke the character that they are voicing. You need to be able to believe that you are hearing the inner musings of the diary’s author – be in their brain perhaps. The narrator had the right mix of emotion, excitement, and sadness as were appropriate.

If you are looking for activities to enhance your reading experience with your children, check out this discussion guide/lesson plan from Scholastic.

This book is currently out of print, but you can find it from used sellers or try your local library. Scholastic is currently working on re-releasing many of the books in the Dear America series as well as releasing new books in this series. More when it becomes available.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers: 

• Caitlin Schwatka on Goodreads
• Ana Mardoll’s Ramblings

Other Books in the Dear America Series:

A Journey to the New World

So Far From Home
[My Review]

When Will This Cruel War Be Over?

A Picture of Freedom

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie
[My Review]

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly
[My Review]

West to a Land of Plenty

Dreams in the Golden Country

Standing in the Light

Voyage on the Great Titanic

A Line in the Sand

My Heart is on the Ground

The Great Railroad Race

A Light in the Storm

The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow

The Winter of Red Snow
[My Review]


A Coal Miner’s Bride

Color Me Dark

One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping

Valley of the Moon

Seeds of Hope

Christmas After All

Early Sunday Morning

My Face to the Wind

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

A Time for Courage

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Survival in the Storm

When Christmas Comes Again

Land of the Buffalo Bones

Love Thy Neighbor

All the Stars in the Sky

Look to the Hills

Hear My Sorrow

I Walk in Dread

The Fences Between Us

Like The Willow Tree

Cannons at Dawn

With the Might of Angels

Behind the Masks

A City Tossed and Broken

Down the Rabbit Hole

Find Dear America series here.

Copyright © 2012 by The Maiden’s Court