- set in early 1900s Florida, a new family to the area is mistreated by neighbors
- fictional characters but based on real experiences told to the author
- neat descriptions of how life and farming were like back then
- language: shucks x3, lawzy x1, L*rdy x3, a “colored man” mentioned, golly x3
- convo: drinking, drunkenness, hatred, a man whips a child, boys beat up a man
Type: chapter book
Ages: 10+
Author: Lois Lenski
The ending of this book is guaranteed to shock your senses a little, after so much build up of emotions!
I want to emphasize the age suggestion. There are some pretty rough parts I wouldn’t have handed to my children before age 10–and that’s from a family who discuss things a lot, so it might be even higher for yours. Please use discretion.
Overall, this book accomplished what Lenski set out to do–bring to life the way real people lived around the States (see her “American Regional” series). Here’s a quote from her excellent Foreword (with helpful historical and cultural notes):
In this series of regional books for American children, I am trying to present vivid, sympathetic pictures of the real life of different kinds of Americans, against authentic backgrounds of diverse localities. We need to know our country better; to know and understand people different from ourselves; so that we can say: ‘This then is the way these people lived. Because I understand it, I admire and love them.’ Is not this a rich heritage for our American children?
Lois Lenski