Rating: 
Summary: Everyone should Read this Book
Review: A previous reviewer noted this book was for little (and Big) girls everywhere. But this is truly a story for everyone. Like many other reviewers, I first read this story when I was 10. I loved Ivy's free spirit, and empathized with Martha, shy and worried about others, but allowing herself to be pulled into Ivy's world. And I was devastated when, in Junior High School, Ivy was apparently overcome by the cruel assesments of those around her.
Part of Zilpha K. Snyder's magic as a writer is her ability to create young characters who face real tragedies and traumas and yet somehow overcome what seem to be the insurmountable odds of suviving adolescence. Facing my own crises as I approached Junior High, I found her books at once inspiring and reassuring.
Reading them again now, almost 30 years later, I am shocked at what I didn't see before, and what my favorite nine year old girl sees that I don't. I can't read the first or final two chapters of this book now without crying for Ivy, even as I know that in the end she is able to pursue her dream. She became a messiah-like figure for Martha, saving her from the expectations of Martha's own family, and giving her the confidence to discover herself and live life to the fullest. But she suffered greatly and was even briefly rejected by Martha when Ivy herself was hurting the most. And still she triumphs and forgives. Would that we all had such friends.
This book should definitely become a yearling edition. It is one of the best works of childrens literature ever penned.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone should Read this Book
Review: A previous reviewer noted this book was for little (and Big) girls everywhere. But this is truly a story for everyone. Like many other reviewers, I first read this story when I was 10. I loved Ivy's free spirit, and empathized with Martha, shy and worried about others, but allowing herself to be pulled into Ivy's world. And I was devastated when, in Junior High School, Ivy was apparently overcome by the cruel assesments of those around her.
Part of Zilpha K. Snyder's magic as a writer is her ability to create young characters who face real tragedies and traumas and yet somehow overcome what seem to be the insurmountable odds of suviving adolescence. Facing my own crises as I approached Junior High, I found her books at once inspiring and reassuring.
Reading them again now, almost 30 years later, I am shocked at what I didn't see before, and what my favorite nine year old girl sees that I don't. I can't read the first or final two chapters of this book now without crying for Ivy, even as I know that in the end she is able to pursue her dream. She became a messiah-like figure for Martha, saving her from the expectations of Martha's own family, and giving her the confidence to discover herself and live life to the fullest. But she suffered greatly and was even briefly rejected by Martha when Ivy herself was hurting the most. And still she triumphs and forgives. Would that we all had such friends.
This book should definitely become a yearling edition. It is one of the best works of childrens literature ever penned.
Rating:
Summary: I remember dancing . . .
Review: As a child, I imagined myself to be Martha, and my best friend to be Ivy. I really thought that she must have been switched somehow, because there was no way she could have come from the family she went home to each night! For years, I've been looking forward to reading it again and sharing it with my daughter. But I've been fruitlessly searching for months! I just can't believe that such an important, magical, hopeful, romantic story of friendship and self-determination has become so very rare. I'm glad people can find it here, but I do wish it would be re-released en masse, so that many, many more people could experience the simple magic and subtle transcendence this excellent book has to offer.
Rating:
Summary: How can this jewel be out of publication?
Review: As a child, I imagined myself to be Martha, and my best friend to be Ivy. I really thought that she must have been switched somehow, because there was no way she could have come from the family she went home to each night! For years, I've been looking forward to reading it again and sharing it with my daughter. But I've been fruitlessly searching for months! I just can't believe that such an important, magical, hopeful, romantic story of friendship and self-determination has become so very rare. I'm glad people can find it here, but I do wish it would be re-released en masse, so that many, many more people could experience the simple magic and subtle transcendence this excellent book has to offer.
Rating:
Summary: The publisher should release this book again!
Review: Everything that happens in this story is as valid today as it was in 1977. My local library still has the copy I read for the first time thirteen years ago. The only thing that keeps me from stealing it is the thought that I would be robbing some other child of this fantastic story! Ivy Carson is one of my all time favorite literary characters. I could never decide if I most wanted to be Martha, so I could be Ivy's best friend, or if I wanted to be "the Changeling" herself..."-Don't do anything that can't be a Game."
Rating:
Summary: The Changeling.
Review: How this remains out of print - I will never understand. I have loved this book since I first read it in the early '80's.My family moved a lot, and I always felt like Ivy - going away and coming back older and different and trying to re-learn friendships with people you had been away from for several years. The author is truly a person who loves children/people. She has a terrific Website - www.microweb.com/lsnyder/ - and responds to letters. Very nice. I hold my copy of this book dear to me, but hope is comes back to print. I have nieces and nephews who are getting into books, and I want each of them to have a copy.
Rating:
Summary: Truly Outstanding!
Review: I can't believe that this book is out of print. I'm only 25 and it doesn't seem that long ago that I read and re-read this book. It was a coming of age tale with realism and magic. I hope it gets reissued so that other generations can enjoy this novel.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite children's book
Review: I can't believe this went out of print; I had to contact Ms. Snyder to get a copy (she has a web page & is nice enough to answer e-mail). It is, as someone else said, the greatest tale of young-girl friendship ever written, with a lot about how we becvome ourselves. One of the ten most important books I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book, for girls and women of all ages
Review: I can't remember when I first read this book, but it was one of the few non-fantasy books I really loved as a girl. Martha and Ivy are drawn with a great deal of feeling, each outcasts in their own way (I identified with shy Martha, and years later was lucky enough to have an unconventional friend somewhat like Ivy). With strong messages about being oneself and not giving in to peer pressure, I feel this book can help give young girls the courage to be different at a very difficult age. I can't believe that it's out of print. Thank god I saved my copy.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book, for girls and women of all ages
Review: I can't remember when I first read this book, but it was one of the few non-fantasy books I really loved as a girl. Martha and Ivy are drawn with a great deal of feeling, each outcasts in their own way (I identified with shy Martha, and years later was lucky enough to have an unconventional friend somewhat like Ivy). With strong messages about being oneself and not giving in to peer pressure, I feel this book can help give young girls the courage to be different at a very difficult age. I can't believe that it's out of print. Thank god I saved my copy.
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