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Summary: Not Too Shabby!
Review: Jacob Have I Loved is an amazing novel about finding yourself and becoming your own person-- It centers around the tomboy Sara Louise and the sibling rivilry she has for her twin sister... Sara Louise hates her life on Rass Island, but can't seem to compete with her sister to get off... Good book for anyone who has a "perfect" sibling or is trying to discover the "real" them. The writing style I believe was a little unusual (vocab and such) but very, very interesting and new... I liked it!
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Summary: The saddest book I've ever read
Review: This is one of my favorite books. I cried harder while reading it than anything else I've ever read or seen, but it's ultimately very uplifting and sweet. This is the story of Sara Louise and her twin sister Caroline, who grow up ona a tiny fishing island in the 1940s; specifically, it is the story of Sara Louise's resentment of her talented, pretty sister, and of her struggle do discover who she is apart from Caroline's shadow. Caroline is not really cruel, or even very selfish; she is one of those shining, talented people who do everything well and whom everyone loves, and who come to take it for granted. Without meaning to, everything Louise wants seems to come to Caroline. The way Louise deals with this and, ultimately, transcends it is a truly hertwrenching and uplifting story.
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Summary: Jacob Have I Loved
Review: I read this book for a book report and I have to say, it is my favorite book. Sara Louise is fantastic! I was intrigued and impressed with the characters, the events, and the book itself. This is a must-read!!
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Summary: Jacob Have I Loved....Striving On My Own...
Review: I picked this book up at the library only two years ago... The chilling and compelling title drew me to it. I must say this book presents the case of sibling rivalry remarkably well. Two twin sisters...Sarah Louise and Caroline...confined to their small island home they travel the road of adolescence ...Caroline...always the dainty, weak, and fragile one has many talents and opportunities and is seemed to be liked better by all... while Sarah Louise is the helpful one; always doing the work and struggling to help the poor family... Sarah Louise is not as well-liked, and her hard work is not appreciated ...However..even Caroline cannot hold Sarah Louise back from achieving a future of happiness.... though very different from her sister, Sarah Louise enters a world that not even Caroline could acieve... "I wonder as I wander..."
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Summary: This book was depressing and unrealistic
Review: Whoah, what a horrible novel. I am exactly like Wheeze (only Caroline is my best friend, Ashley) i thought this book is tryin to make the under appreciated person feel better! it didn't! i felt bad after reading the book. wheeze has everything taken away from her, including call, and doesn't fight back. she lets everything go. what a sad person. i cannot express how bad i thought this book was. it was neither moving nor touching but plain retarded. i mean, come on, she liked an 80 year old mean? that is weird!
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Summary: Jacob, Have I Loved
Review: I think that Jacob, Have I Loved is a wonderful book. It became my favorite written masterpiece as soon as I finished it. I think it would become yours too. Katherine Peterson is a true genius with the written word. Thank you!
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Summary: Jacob Have I Loved
Review: Jacob Have I Loved is a beautifully heart-wrenching story of a teen-age girl's search for validation. She cannot find it in her family or her friends. She cannot even find it within herself because she views herself as a mere shadow of her more beautiful, golden twin sister. This memory tale is told by Louise, called "Wheeze" by her sister Caroline, and is a poignant and humorous story of the struggle for independence and meaning that each person faces. I highly recommend this book.
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Summary: Jessi's Review of Jacob Have I Loved
Review: As a hopeless romantic, I was sure the book, Jacob Have I Loved, promised a beautiful love story between a woman and, of course, Jacob. Katherine Paterson had something else in store for me when she gave the story of Sara Louise Bradshaw, an adolescent growing up according to the restrictions and confinements placed on women in the 1940's on this small island. An outcast, Sarah Louise Bradshaw, or Wheeze, undergoes many changes during her adolescent life but is discouraged to talk about many of her feelings, in particular her sexual feelings, because the message for women in this society taught her to remain silent. According to Tolman's and Scalacha's article, Dimensions of Desire, "girls' experience of sexuality and sexual desire in particular are a significant, allbeit neglected, force in girls' development and as such are potentially crucial in girl's developing a sense of entitlement and empowerment." (Tolman and Szalacha 8) Wheeze is a prime example of this neglected force. She feels as if she is not entitled to her sexual desires because she was raised to suppress her feelings when she first experiences them. Louise's feelings are suppressed when she notices herself being fascinated with her friend, the captain. He is an older man and though this could be observed as a harmless crush, she allows herself to feel guilty. She looks at his hands and thinks they are beautiful. She thinks about him more than she used to and she finds herself wanting to spend time with him. She feels an attraction that she is not used to and it frightens her. Louise felt what so many girls feel at that age but because no one has ever talked to her about it, she assumed it was a sin. "I knew that anything that made a person feel the way I felt at that moment had to be a deadly sin." (132) Women dared not talk about their sexuality at this time. She felt powerless on this island and that her "sin" was only going to push her back even more. Instead, she keeps her thoughts to herself and spends this crucial time in a woman's development alone. Louise spends most of her life feeling alone, though she is not literally alone. She is constantly being compared to her twin sister, Caroline, for her beauty, her singing, and her lady like behavior. Wheeze, on the other hand, speaks her mind, prefers crabbing with her father, and enjoys reading books other than the bible. Wheeze struggles like all adolescent girls, yet she has no outlet for her frustration because, according to her grandmother, it is not appropriate for a girl to feel the way she does. Her grandmother's constant nagging and judging others is the reason Louise struggles with many issues. Her suppression comes from her fear of damnation."Momma, I wanted to cry out, tell me I'm not in danger of hell fire. My childhood nightmares of damnation were rising fast, but there was no place for me to run. How could I share with my mother the wildness of my body or the desperation of my mind?" "Feminist scholars have theorized how patriarchal suppression of female sexuality is a key aspect of women's oppression...Buried within an ostensibly objective stance is the historical denial and denigration of female adolescent sexuality." (Tolman 8) Louise is scared to tell her mother because she has spent so many years watching her mother be called a whore by the grandmother, though she had no grounds to do so. She has no positive reinforcement because her mother is also an example of this suppression of female sexuality. Her mother is her only teacher so Wheeze learns about this suppression early by observing her mother and grandmother. Therefore, Wheeze has to hide her feelings and spend her days feeling inferior and dirty for her feelings until she finally escapes the island. This escape is what makes Paterson's book so inspiring, to adolescents and adults alike. I felt the hurt Wheeze felt from her family, I fell in love when Wheeze fell in love, I lost hope and found it again as Wheeze did. I couldn't put the book down until I knew Wheeze had escaped the island because she showed that adolescents, especially females, can overcome suppression, they can escape restrictions, and they can make things happen.
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Summary: Review of Katerine Paterson's "Jacob Have I Loved"
Review: Katherine Paterson's Jacob Haved I Loved is about a sibling rivalry between Louise and Caroline. Ever since the day that Louise and Caroline were born, Louise has always felt inferior to her sister because of her beauty and ability to make friends so quickly. Louise feels that her family likes Caroline more, and she feels that nothing can ever change that no matter what she does. Louise is very lonely and confused throughout the whole book. Katherine Paterson uses the setting of the book to portray the Louise's feelings. The Chesapeake Bay setting is a symbol of the isolation in Jacob Haved I Loved. "Because the island setting reflects Louise's personality and because her activities on and in reference to the island parallel her progress toward self-acceptance and toward loving relationships with others, the influence of place on character and theme can be explored by examining Rass Island in light of Jung's associations-as refuge, as limitation, and as region of danger" (Goforth 176). Rass Island is not very big to begin with, and storms are a major issue there because they tend to get very dangerous. One storm destroys the captain's house, and at the same time destroys Louise's driftwood stump that she visits in order to escape from others. An example of her isolation with regards to the stump is when she hears about Pearl Harbor and feels that it is inappropriate to celebrate Christmas. Unfortunately, when she suggests this to her teacher, who she adores, he does not seem too thrilled with her idea. She feels embarrassed in front of her classmates and wants to escape the humiliation; she goes to the driftwood stump. Louise feels that being by herself is the best cure for how she is feeling. "...The driftwood stump, an island on an island, seems the appropriate place for her as she slips further into herself" (Paterson 72-73). Louise builds a wall around herself and does not want anyone to help her. Louise does not go beyond the environment of Rass Island. She never wants to go to the mainland with her mother and sister. Even though she is offered the chance to go to boarding school, Louise chooses not to. "Her physical isolation reflects her self-obsession and her failure to establish relationships with others" (Goforth 177). She does not allow herself to accept her friend Call's feelings for her but is horrified when she hears that he is going to marry her sister. Finally, Louise makes a breakthrough with her isolation when she decides to work with her father and leaves Rass Island. Being away from Caroline, Louise can be who she truly is and feels what she has always wanted to feel. She realizes that her parents and the captain really do love her, and that is what is most important to her. She feels a part of the family again. Louise leaves the island and makes a life for herself on Truitt and the mountains become home to her. Louise has an overwhelming experience that leads her to realize that she has always loved her sister when she brings the mountain girl's twins back. She helps one twin survive, but at the same time makes sure the other healthy twin is still being cared for. When Louise and Caroline were born, Caroline had difficulties and the family only paid attention to her, leaving Louise out. She did not want this to happen to this set of twins. "As she turns her attention outward, her island self becomes an island home from which she can move outward and into which she can invite the people she loves" (Goforth 178). Paterson uses the setting of the book to portray Louise's feelings and creates a story that is very enjoyable. I liked this book very much and think that it is an excellent book for adolescents. Many adolescents have trouble finding themselves and if they read this book, they can possibly realize that there is hope and that no matter how they are feeling at a certain time about their family, they should always know that their family loves them. Everyone at one time or another may feel left out in their family, but they can always find their way back to them and should never feel the need to isolate themselves.
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Summary: Sad but Interesting
Review: Lousia and Caroline are twin girls who live on a small island. Lousia has a tough life because of her talented sister Caroline. Their grandmother lives with them and drives them all crazy. Lousia ends up meating a new friend who's name is Captain, but Caroline ends up taking over Lousia's frendship with Captain. The Captain even payed for Caroline to go to the University of Baltimore. Read to find out what happens to Lousia and Caroline and their relationship.
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