Rating: 
Summary: Perfect!
Review: "Nory Ryan's Song" is a wonderful book - there's no other way to put it! I've never read a book about the Great Hunger and I am now very interested in this topic, as result of this novel. Patricia Reilly Giff gave the perfect amount of detail and emotion to conjure up pictures in one's mind. I was able to feel everyone's pain and hunger. This should also be required reading in school. I just wish Giff put in an Epilogue, just for some closure. You can tell this story meant a lot to the author, by her note at the end of the story. I recommend!
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Summary: Historical Fiction at it's Best!
Review: "Nory Ryan's Song" is the kind of book that makes history come alive. A poignant story of the horrific devastation caused by the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840's, it nevertheless is imbued with the grit and determination of one young girl to see the beauty of life, and hope for the future. My 10 y.o. daughter chose this book for a historical fiction book report, and after several nights under the covers with a flashlight well past her bedtime, concluded it was easily the best book she has ever read. We both hope that the author, Patricia Reilly Giff, writes a sequel.
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Summary: Nory Ryan's Song a review by Amanda
Review: "Nory, I'm moving to Smith St. Brooklyn, New York." Have you ever had to leave somewhere you love because it was not safe for you anymore? Well, if you have, Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Reilly Giff is a story you can relate to. Around 1818, the English were taking over parts of Ireland. The taxes were coming due, and Papa still had not come home with the money. Will they be able to pay the taxes or not? Find out if Nory's family moves or pays their taxes. This book is great and Nory actually dealt with these problems. I highly encourage you to read Nory Ryan's Song, to find out if anything happens to her or her family. It is an excellent book that actually happened to a girl who lived in Ireland.
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Summary: Nory Ryan's Song
Review: During An Gorta Mor, or the Great Hunger of Ireland, over one million of Ireland's eight million died from sickness or starvation. Newbery-Award winner Patricia Reilly Giff chooses this horrific period between 1845-1852 as the setting for her latest novel. Don't expect a book full of cliché happy Irish peasants singing and dancing, catching leprechauns. Giff doesn't gloss over one gritty detail of a daily life where starvation seems imminent.
When 12-year-old Nory Ryan's family first settled on Maidin Bay generations ago, they owned the land they lived on and the house they built; the house that her family still lives in. Now, everyone must pay taxes to an Englishman, Lord Cunningham, who owns all their lands. Those that cannot afford to pay in cash must pay with livestock or --- worse yet --- land from which they then are evicted.
Her father is away fishing, hoping to make enough money to pay back taxes for the months he's been gone, and Nory's mother died long ago. Left to take care of each other, Nory, her two sisters, and her brother rely on their elderly grandfather to help get by. The Ryans are lucky enough to have two chickens, a pig, and their potato fields to help them survive.
One night, Nory is awakened by an awful smell that comes wafting in through the open doors and windows. Her grandfather instantly recognizes the smell of rot from the potato fields --- the potatoes are rotting while still in the ground. Even Nory knows what that means: They may actually starve to death. So begins Nory's struggle to stay alive.
Nory is a brave heroine, suffering through horrors that I don't think any of us can imagine. With death and cruelty all around her, somehow Nory's heart remains filled with a hopeful song: her father will come back, regardless of how long he's been gone now; her family will have enough money to go to America-together; she won't starve to death; and she won't let her baby brother die.
Nory's attempts to distract her brother from his constant hunger are heartbreaking. Even as neighbors turn on each other in a survival of the fittest, Nory remains true enough to risk her own life to keep those she loves alive. It isn't fair that a young girl should suffer as she does while still protecting those around her, yet that is exactly what happened to millions of girls just like Nory.
A glossary of Irish terms and a letter from the author make this eye-opening story even more tangible. I won't tell whether or not Nory and her family make it. Be ready for a book so well-written that you'll smell the sea and see the beauty in this fierce land and its people. But also be ready for a book so honest and frightening that you'll smell the rot, feel the exhaustion and the all-consuming hunger that each of the characters feel throughout. Believe me, you'll be happy to eat whatever is for dinner for a long time to come.
--- Reviewed by Kate Torpie
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Summary: EXCELLENT!
Review: I am a 13 year old who does not enjoy reading very much and would rather be watching MTV instead.But when I first picked up this book I could not put it down I read it in about 2 days. Patricia Reilly Giff is my new favorite author!It is about a girl and her family during the potato famine in Irealand. As she is trying to save her self by eating anything she can find from bird eggs to grass she is also struggling to save her friends and family.Does she come through?You will have to find out! : )I did and I loved it!
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Summary: Nory Ryan's Song
Review: I liked the book for several different reasons.
Here they are.
I liked this book because it had lots of adventures.
Like when they tried to get to the boat without getting caught.
When Nory got caught I thaught she was going to be put in jail.
When she got caught she had a basket with food in it ,with a
hankerchief at the bottom.Without it the people already in the boat would get caught.
Those are the reasons I liked this book.I hope are next book
is just like this one.
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Summary: TRAVIS' FABULOUS BOOK REVIEW
Review: I liked the book in several different reasons.
Here they are.
I liked the book because it had lots of adventures.
Like when they all tried to get to the boat witout getting caught
When Nory got caught on her way to the boat.
When she got caught she had a basket with food in it,
but at the bottom there was a hankerchief .Without the hankerchief the people already in the boat would get caught.
That is why I liked this book.I hope our next book will be just
as good.
Rating:
Summary: Nory Ryan's Song
Review: I reccomend this book to everyone, unless you get depressed easily. I think this book describes realistically what it must have been like during the potato famine. It's a very sad book, but is educational and should be read at least once in a life time. I want to read the sequel (Maggie's Door) to find out what happens next!
Rating: 
Summary: Nory and Anna
Review: I think Nory Ryan's Song was interesting. It has different facts about how people in Ireland felt about the potato famine. Ireland was a great place to grow potatos, because it was wet and cool, tne perfect climate for them. In town, Lord Cunningham's wife purchased Anna's shawl, but a gaurd took one of her coins and ended up with three. On her way home a stranger took her package and other things. She had no food for herself,Patch,and Nory. There is not much action in this story.
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Summary: Rachel Estep's book review for Mrs. Sanchez
Review: I thought Nory Ryan's Song was a great book. The author was very specific about the actions of the characters in the book. It made me thankful for all the things that I have now. The book is about a 10 year old girl living in Ireland with her family during the potato famine. Her father is off on a boat fishing, trying to get enough money to pay the rent. So Nory lives with her grandad, her two sisters, Celia and Maggie, and her baby brother Patch. Her mother died when Patch was born.After Maggie got married, she moved to New York.They don't have enough money to pay the rent so when Devlin comes to collect it they have to give him one of their chickens or pigs until they can pay him back. And since they don't have very much food, Nory decides to make a shawl to sell. She hopes someone will buy it so she can buy some food and get a package at the post office from Maggie. But when she gets the package something happens. So now Nory and her best friend Sean Red have to climb high into the cliffs to get eggs from bird's nests to eat. But I'm not going to tell you the end of the book. You will have to find that out for yourself.And when your finished reading this book you will also be glad that you have what you have. Hope you enjoy it.
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