Rating: 
Summary: A Page Turner
Review: Very true to life story of a fractured family. You will have a hard time putting it down.
Rating:
Summary: THE STRENGTH AND COURAGE OF CHILDREN IS AMAZING
Review: What an amazing book! The soul-touching story, combined with some of the most incredibly natural, infectious humor since Mark Twain, makes this one of the most uplifting books I've read in recent years. The main characters -- 9 year-old Charlie, the narrator, and 12 year-old Graceanne, his sister -- are immensely endearing and admirable. They are growing up -- along with their older sister, 16 year-old Kentucky -- living with their recently-divorced mother on the 'wrong side of the tracks' in a small town in northern Missouri in the early 1960s. Their dad isn't in the picture much -- an alcoholic soldier who beats their mother, he's sent packing early on in the story, and makes himself scarce after his exit. The mother, Edie, would probably be diagnosed today as being neurotic or psychotic. In her never-ending struggle to 'keep up appearances', she constantly nags her kids about their manners, the company they keep, &c. On several occasions, she asks out loud 'What have I ever done to deserve such demon children?' She takes most of her frustrations with her life, along with her complete misunderstanding of her children, on the intelligent, precocious Graceanne. On several occasions, she beats her until she's bloody. It's easy to understand how the kids would come to see themselves as a burden to her -- if it weren't for their seemingly indestructable spirits. Graceanne is a tough child with a reputation to match. Near the beginning of the book, Charlie (actually short for Charlemange, which should tell you MORE about their mother), who has a correctable club foot, is musing about being bullied by the other children in town. He dismisses worrying about the other kids with these thoughts about his sisters (from p.9): 'The two worst bullies in Cranepool's Landing were ALREADY exercising their license as family members to beat me silly -- "whale on you, young man" -- on a regular basis, leaving all other potential assailants the status of respectful, but backward, admirers of my sisters' originality and prowess.' Graceanne has an IQ of 165 -- and Charlie's is a very respectable 139. The author gives these children -- especially Graceanne, acquired by Charlie possibly simply by being in her presence -- incredible voices. Graceanne's use of newly-absorbed vocabulary words doesn't come across as much as an attempt to show off as it does as a means of asserting her inteligence and individuality in an atmosphere that tends to crush it. She is also a universally feared and respected softball player. Some of the parents of the other kids even suspect that she's a boy. From p.248: 'She could hit anything that came at her, and she'd slice the ball belt-high through the infield, so close to the player she was aiming at that most players couldn't possibly catch it. A couple of parents complained that Graceanne was trying to peel the skin off their kids; the ball would come so fast and so hard and so tight that the only sensible thing to do was to hit the dirt when they saw it coming...' There are several notable events in the book -- which takes place over the course of a little over a single year, from April 1960 to July 1961. It is the time of the Kennedys and Camelot, of the boiling pot of race relations in American coming to a head, before Vietnam -- a time of innocence and discovery, tailor-made for an imagination and spirit like that possessed by this young heroine. After her parents' divorce, her mother is forced by economics to move her family to a 'bad' part of town. Graceanne becomes fast friends with Wanda, the young black girl who lives next door -- which brings out some revealing comments and feelings from her mother, showing her to be anything BUT the color-blind person she has professed to be. There are some tender, poignant moments in the novel as well -- both between Graceanne and her friend Wanda and between the siblings. Little brothers at this age historically do not endear themselves to their sisters, or vice versa. Through the course of the book, Charlie wrestles with what he eventually recognizes as growing feelings of love for his sister. From p.275, he wonders about his feelings that are awakened by hearing Elvis' 'Love me tender': 'I wondered if I loved anyone tenderly. I knew I loved Mike the dog, who you couldn't sing an Elvis song to because he was an animal. And I looked around and saw Graceanne with her doll hair and her glasses and her soft skin and I thought maybe I loved her, who would laugh at me if I sang Elvis to her. It came as a big surprise to me that I loved my sister.' The novel is filled with moments like these -- but the action sequences never become over-the-top or unbelievable, and the touching moments never become maudlin. The author transposes her vision of this story onto the page with an easy grace and eloquence, touched with humor and sympathy for these wonderful characters. This is a story that can be enjoyed by adult readers -- and indeed, I came away with the impression that it was written for them -- and intelligent young people as well. It's quite an achievement.
Rating:
Summary: THE STRENGTH AND COURAGE OF CHILDREN IS AMAZING
Review: What an amazing book! The soul-touching story, combined with some of the most incredibly natural, infectious humor since Mark Twain, makes this one of the most uplifting books I've read in recent years. The main characters -- 9 year-old Charlie, the narrator, and 12 year-old Graceanne, his sister -- are immensely endearing and admirable. They are growing up -- along with their older sister, 16 year-old Kentucky -- living with their recently-divorced mother on the 'wrong side of the tracks' in a small town in northern Missouri in the early 1960s. Their dad isn't in the picture much -- an alcoholic soldier who beats their mother, he's sent packing early on in the story, and makes himself scarce after his exit. The mother, Edie, would probably be diagnosed today as being neurotic or psychotic. In her never-ending struggle to 'keep up appearances', she constantly nags her kids about their manners, the company they keep, &c. On several occasions, she asks out loud 'What have I ever done to deserve such demon children?' She takes most of her frustrations with her life, along with her complete misunderstanding of her children, on the intelligent, precocious Graceanne. On several occasions, she beats her until she's bloody. It's easy to understand how the kids would come to see themselves as a burden to her -- if it weren't for their seemingly indestructable spirits. Graceanne is a tough child with a reputation to match. Near the beginning of the book, Charlie (actually short for Charlemange, which should tell you MORE about their mother), who has a correctable club foot, is musing about being bullied by the other children in town. He dismisses worrying about the other kids with these thoughts about his sisters (from p.9): 'The two worst bullies in Cranepool's Landing were ALREADY exercising their license as family members to beat me silly -- "whale on you, young man" -- on a regular basis, leaving all other potential assailants the status of respectful, but backward, admirers of my sisters' originality and prowess.' Graceanne has an IQ of 165 -- and Charlie's is a very respectable 139. The author gives these children -- especially Graceanne, acquired by Charlie possibly simply by being in her presence -- incredible voices. Graceanne's use of newly-absorbed vocabulary words doesn't come across as much as an attempt to show off as it does as a means of asserting her inteligence and individuality in an atmosphere that tends to crush it. She is also a universally feared and respected softball player. Some of the parents of the other kids even suspect that she's a boy. From p.248: 'She could hit anything that came at her, and she'd slice the ball belt-high through the infield, so close to the player she was aiming at that most players couldn't possibly catch it. A couple of parents complained that Graceanne was trying to peel the skin off their kids; the ball would come so fast and so hard and so tight that the only sensible thing to do was to hit the dirt when they saw it coming...' There are several notable events in the book -- which takes place over the course of a little over a single year, from April 1960 to July 1961. It is the time of the Kennedys and Camelot, of the boiling pot of race relations in American coming to a head, before Vietnam -- a time of innocence and discovery, tailor-made for an imagination and spirit like that possessed by this young heroine. After her parents' divorce, her mother is forced by economics to move her family to a 'bad' part of town. Graceanne becomes fast friends with Wanda, the young black girl who lives next door -- which brings out some revealing comments and feelings from her mother, showing her to be anything BUT the color-blind person she has professed to be. There are some tender, poignant moments in the novel as well -- both between Graceanne and her friend Wanda and between the siblings. Little brothers at this age historically do not endear themselves to their sisters, or vice versa. Through the course of the book, Charlie wrestles with what he eventually recognizes as growing feelings of love for his sister. From p.275, he wonders about his feelings that are awakened by hearing Elvis' 'Love me tender': 'I wondered if I loved anyone tenderly. I knew I loved Mike the dog, who you couldn't sing an Elvis song to because he was an animal. And I looked around and saw Graceanne with her doll hair and her glasses and her soft skin and I thought maybe I loved her, who would laugh at me if I sang Elvis to her. It came as a big surprise to me that I loved my sister.' The novel is filled with moments like these -- but the action sequences never become over-the-top or unbelievable, and the touching moments never become maudlin. The author transposes her vision of this story onto the page with an easy grace and eloquence, touched with humor and sympathy for these wonderful characters. This is a story that can be enjoyed by adult readers -- and indeed, I came away with the impression that it was written for them -- and intelligent young people as well. It's quite an achievement.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended reading.
Review: Wonderfully written. The characters are very well drawn out, especially Graceanne and her mother. The story is told from Graceanne's brother's perspective. Although many people in her life see Graceanne as being a misbehaving "problem" child, it is clear from the way she treats her siblings and friends that Graceanne is one of the most loving characters I have ever met. I was sorry that the book ended. I want to know more about what happens in their lives. I highly recommend this book.
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