Getting Near to Baby (2000 Newbery Honor Book)

Rating:
Summary: Strayed too much
Review: I thought Getting Near to Baby was an okay sort of book. It told the story of Willa Jo and Little Sister and what happens to them after the death of Baby, their littlest sister. Their mother goes into a depressed sort of grief and nothing gets done around the house, they don't wash a dish until they have to use it. Then one day, Aunt Patty, who is their mother's sister, comes to clean house. After everything is cleaned up, she realizes that her sister may need to some time to heal alone. So she takes Willa Jo and Little Sister to live with her. She tries to fit them into a mold of what she thinks little girls should be like, because she has never had any of her own. But Willa Jo and Little Sister can't fit the perfect little girl mold because they are different. They have to deal with the loss of Baby too. I thought Audrey Couloumbis' intentions were great and some parts of the book were good, but she strayed too much off of the main idea, which was letting the girls get over their grief. She told a lot of what happened when the girls would try going to Sunday School, and not enough of how they felt. I thought this book was okay, not great though. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to hear a story of gettting over a personal tragedy.

Rating:
Summary: Heart warming story
Review: In this book there is a girl named Willa Jo and her sister who is nicknamed Little sister. These girls live with their aunt Patty and uncle Hob because their mom is very depressed so she needs some time to be alone. She is very depressed because her other daughter name Baby died of drinking bad water in the fair. All Willa Jo's mom wants to do is draw pictures of baby with in angels in heaven. The girls get sent with their aunt Patty and they don't like it because they think all aunt Patty wants to do is boss them around. This of coarse is not true aunt Patty and uncle Hob really care about them. When they first get there, they have strict rules that they have to follow. Then the next day, aunt Patty took them to the store to buy them clothes and sandals so they can have something to wear. They later on learn to follow the rules and behave. When their mom gets better after a couple of months later, they go back to live with her. Little sister doesn't talk any more because everyone thinks shehas lost her voice because of the tragic accident. Until one day.........
I really enjoyed reading this book because there is always something that Willa Jo and Little sister are going to do. They are always up to something. This book helps you understand how kids feel when they are away from their parents and feel like no one understands them. For example Willa Jo and Little sister sit on top of the roof top to watch the sun set, since that's what they used to do with their mom. All they have left is the memory of them sitting together watching the golden sun.
As soon as you pick up the book, you don't want to stop reading it because it always keeps you guessing what's going to happen until the next minute. The author really accomplish what he is trying to do by putting clues in the book with things that have to do in the title. You will think this book doesn't make sense until you actually get further in to the book then you will start comprehending how
Life is for Willa Jo and Little sister.

Rating:
Summary: A COMPASSIONATE READING
Review: This profound Newbery Honor Book bears revisiting, and it surely bears listening as the story reveals what it means to be a sister and the different forms that tragedy may take. Mischa Barton reads with compassionate understanding.

Twelve-year-old Willa Jo and seven-year-old Little Sister have lost their baby sister. The child's sudden death has, of course, devastated their mother. Aunt Patty, who is not accustomed to having children in her home, takes the two girls thinking that mother needs some time alone to grieve and perhaps begin adjusting to her loss.

What seems like a good and generous thought doesn't turn out very well for the girls as they miss their mother desperately, are grieving for their lost sister, and Aunt Patty has jillions of rules.

In an effort to escape what seems to be an intolerable situation the girls climb onto the roof one morning to watch the sunrise. The problem is, following the sunrise Willa Jo can't bring herself to come down. After all, once she came down, how could she explain her unusual behavior?

There is much for all to learn in this thoughtful recounting of a tragedy and the toll it takes.

Rating:
Summary: Better the Second Time Around!
Review: When Willa Jo climbs on the roof of Aunt Patty's house to watch the sunrise, she discovers that although grief affects everyone differently, no one escapes the sadness that follows a death in the family. With cleverly-inserted flashbacks, Audrey Couloumbis tenderly describes how an extended family's relationships change as two sisters grieve the death of their baby sister. Sometimes stubborn and prickly, thirteen-year-old Willa Jo resolutely resists Aunt Patty's bossiness, her exacting household rules, and her well-intentioned but awkward attempts to care for Willa Jo and Little Sister. Only on her rooftop retreat, does Willa Jo begin to understand the bond that entwines her grief, sunrise memories, and the sisters' relationship with Aunt Patty and Uncle Hob. Getting Near to Baby explores family relationships with humor and sensitivity as it describes one family's struggle to find peace after a baby's death. More than a sensitive depiction of bereavement, this story explores the special closeness two sisters may share. I liked Willa Jo and found her narration believable, touching, and sometimes funny.