Rating: 
Summary: An elegantly told coming-of-age story
Review: A simple story told from a 15-year-old's point of view. The teenager in question is Theresa, a beautiful girl beloved by animals and children alike. Amazingly perspicacious for a teen, Theresa takes us through a summer on Long Island where she cares for her younger cousin, Daisy, the daughter of a semi-famous painter, Flora, and a host of other neighborhood kids and animals.Overall, Child of My Heart seemed more a series of observations and daily happenings than a plotted story. Yet it was oddly compelling, perhaps because McDermott is such a gifted writer. But I did have some problems with Theresa's character: even though she seemed so beyond her years in many respects, she was still very childlike ' she had no friends her age (only younger) and expressed no interest in boys (save for her creepy relationship with the geriatric painter). And that relationship was rather inexplicable ' she never expresses any sexual longing or attraction to this man, but still she gets naked with the old geezer (yuck!), despite being keenly aware of her beauty and that she could probably have any man she wanted. I guess I just felt like something was missing here, but I'm not sure what.
Rating:
Summary: A Pleasant Journey but a Disappointing Destination
Review: Child of My Heart - Alice McDermott
Almost like a wistful dream this reflection back on the summer of her fifteenth year is told by a narrator who focuses on her quiet weeks with her cousin. Theresa is a young lady whose parents have moved their family of three to the wealthy end of Long Island in hopes that because of her beauty and precociousness, she'll be able to "catch" a rich summer resident when she comes of age. Daisy is her eight year old cousin, from a family of ten, who has come to visit for a month. Full of fun and fantasy, Theresa is a popular babysitter and dog-walker. She has been retained by a local artist to care for his baby daughter and so begins the gist of the story as Theresa and Daisy venture out each day to walk dogs then head over to the artist's mansion to nanny the baby.
Although there are some light-hearted moments in this book, it is not a light-hearted book by any means. It is deep and quite thoughtful, dreamy, interesting but not terribly realistic. I enjoyed the character of Theresa and enjoyed her streams of fantasy. Her relationship with Daisy was a delight but not true to relationships between ordinary fifteen year old and eight year old girls, nor were their conversations and personalities at all like any fifteen or eight year old girls in my experience. Nevertheless, they were enjoyable characters to meet and know. Just because a person or story does not reflect reality does not necessarily mean that character or story isn't worth reading!
The disappointment I found was that somewhere near the end, I felt Theresa's character broke what out of who I felt her character was and what I felt had been established. That made the book less pleasurable for me. Overall I felt that, with this book, the journey was wonderful but the destination was disappointing. Still, I would recommend it because the people were fun to know and the stories and little adventures that Theresa and Daisy crafted were worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: Did not hold my attention
Review: Didn't want this book to end. I felt like I was living with the characters, rather than reading about them. While it was a sometimes sad and poignant book, it gave me an uplifting feeling that's hard to explain. I read a lot, and this book is right up there as one of my favorite works of fiction. Subtle in its message, it is beautifully written and a joy to read.
Rating: 
Summary: A modern day classic!!
Review: I am disheartened when I read some of the reviews of this book. I was taken with this story from the very first pages. I see Theresa as a modern day St. Francis, efortlessly winning the respect of animals and children alike. I got the feeling that Theresa didn't really fit in anyway, what with being the only child of older parents, so she used her talent of being the most sought after baby sitter in Long Island to her benefit and to the benefit of many children that are all but forgotten by their families. Theresa provided the stability that this idyllic place needed. This book and all the people in it are utterly unforgettable and superbly crafted. I was touched by Theresa's unconditional love for Daisy Mae and Flora. I loved the scenes at the beach as well as the scene with Debbie and Curly, the cat, and decorating the lollipop tree. Alice McDermott is an efortless, gifted storyteller and this is the type of book that you'll want to curl up with and hang on to.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Real
Review: I have a hard time putting into words my opinion of this novel. It is so carefully crafted. There don't seem to be any moments where the right words are not used. This has all the hallmarks of a classic. The sign of such a good work is that you might guess what is to come (the tragedy, the ultimate pain and/or joy) and you feel that emotion along with the characters but you could not put the book down before getting there. I did not give this a 5 because at first I was disappointed with the ending. It is somehow anti-climatic. The more, however, I thought about it I realized that this was the writer's design. The world of the narrator moves on in the way it does for all of us and especially when we are "coming of age" so to speak. That would be my only suggestion that you keep an open mind to the end and really reflect on the trip the novel took you on.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book
Review: I read this book "Child of My Heart" twice in one week. I loved the characters. The Moran Children, Flora and mostly I loved Daisy. I wanted Daisy to be saved and was saddened by "we lost Daisy in March." When Teresa, Daisy and Flora decorated the tree with lollipops I was visualizing it. When they were on the beach I felt I was there with them. I was with them every minute. I did not understand why Teresa had this sexual encounter with the painter. If she was a young and beautiful girl, she could have had an encounter with a young and handsome boy near her own age. I decided that she was impressed with his reputation as a painter and a lover. Teresa was only 15 years old and a 15 year old looks at situations differently than a mature person. She had no idea how serious the situation was with Daisy's health. I read "Charming Billy" and did not like it. So you see we are all different. I cannot wait until Alice McDermott writes another book. Maybe she will write one about a grown up Teresa and the Moran Children.
Rating: 
Summary: sad but true
Review: I tout Alice McDermott everywhere I go. No other book but The Hours has put me in a stunned, stumbling all-day trance the way At Weddings and Wakes did, or Charming Billy, and I am neither Irish, from NY, or Catholic. But I forced myself through this one. I expect the happier reviews are written right after completing it, because the final two pages are back to McDermott's usual translucent, heartbreaking-without-sentiment prose. Until then, though, it's repetitive narrative along the lines of And then I, And then we, And then I, ad nauseum. As to specific problems, Theresa seems not just precocious, but egotistical. My children are 22, 19 and 15, very confident, but none of them have had the confidence/egotism of Theresa at fifteen. I can believe her testing her sexuality with an older man before I believe she has that kind of confidence. Moreover, I don't believe what I counted as some days of ten-hour babysitting goes as smoothly, no matter what fantasies, stories and activities Theresa cooks up, as McDermott portrays. Theresa never once loses her patience or gets weary. Nope. Doesn't compute, and frankly, makes Theresa less likeable.
Don't let this distract you from Alice McDermott. Just don't read it as your introduction to her. Read At Weddings and Wakes and Charming Billy.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD CHARACTERIZATION
Review: If you like books about children, hop aboard. In the summer of this year, we are introduced to Theresa, the expert baby-sitter who entertains her cousin Daisy up from Queens Village for the entire summer. Theresa works for the wealthy folk around her area, looking after their toddlers and sometimes walking and taking care of the owners pets. She is so tender towards her cousin Daisy's, it's totally touching. Meet Flora the toddler who is constantly under her care and whose father is a painter, and quite attracted to Theresa.....the Morans kids of Janey, Judy, June
Tony and Petey and the Kaufmans, the Swansons and the rest of the neighborhood. The story line was interesting and the characters more so, but it's a book that will keep you turning the pages as you will want to know what happens to these lovely children who spend their days on the beach and who dream about fairies and lollipops on weeping cherry trees. A good holiday read. Reviewed by Heather Marshall January 15th, 2003
Rating: 
Summary: I didn't understand this...
Review: Maybe I am missing something, but I didn't think that this novel was anything special. It was readable, sort of. There were many open ends in the story of Daisy Mae and her visit to her cousin one summer. I still am baffled by the book and haven't a clue, for the first time in my life!
Rating:
Summary: Gentle, Nostalic and Lovely
Review: Perhaps this book found me at the right time. I'm a new mom and, apparently, my patience for fiction has diminished a great deal. While I used to read 4 or 5 novels a month, I've been limiting my recent diet to parenting books. Oh well. Somehow this story captured my attention. I think it was largely the gentle pace and the nostalgic portrayal of the summer days of girlhood. My only hesitation in praising the book involves the main character, Theresa. For the majority of the story she was painted in an angelic light. Her blossoming sexuality could certainly be understood, but her attraction to a senior artist--light and shadow notwithstanding--didn't quite mesh. In any event, I was drawn to Theresa's goodness. I suppose it was her precocious motherly qualities that endeared her to me at this time in my life.
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