Fiction - Historical Fiction, Fiction - European People, Places & Cultures, Fiction - Historical People, Fiction - General & Miscellaneous, Fiction - Family Life, Fiction - U. S. People, Places & Cultures
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Overview
Based on the childhood of the author's mother, this engaging episodic novel follows the everyday adventures of third-grader Anna Sherwood growing up in pre-WWI Baltimore. Anna is "ein kluges M,dchen"-a clever girl, in her mother's native German-who likes reading better than arithmetic ("All you can do with numbers is make prob-lems. But you can make stories and poems with words"); she's also something of a tomboy. The novel moves from fall to summer as Anna conquers long division (having previously resorted to cheating); battles with her mother over the color of a new winter coat (Anna wants bright red, Mother wants "drab and boring" brown); "split[s] her chin wide open" roller-skating down the steepest hill in Baltimore on a dare; and is judged grown-up enough to ride the trolley downtown to have lunch with her father. All the chapters are informed by Hahn's able evo-cation of time and place-a Baltimore of groceries delivered by horse-drawn wagon and streets lit by gas lamps-and of the specific characters who inhabit it. Many of the episodes are driven by the tension between Anna and her strict, old-fashioned mother (in one of the best chapters, "Anna's Birthday Surprise," Anna, desperate to have a birthday party despite Mother's refusal, secretly issues invitations and then, with a mixture of hope and dread, waits to see what will happen when her friends arrive); the tension is always defused by the unqualified love between Anna and her father. Hahn's use of the present tense to tell Anna's stories helps keep nostalgia at bay, as does the energetic, just-dashed-off quality of deGroat's rough pencil sketches.Chronicles the sometimes funny, sometimes sad experiences of eight-year-old Anna with her friends and family during a year in Baltimore just before World War I.
Editorials
Children's Literature -
The author based this story on her mother's memoirs. Anna Elisabeth Sherwood was eighty when she wrote about her experiences growing up in Baltimore early in the century and her daughter presents a fictionalized account segmented by the seasons of a year. Although Anna enjoyed a pleasant childhood, young readers may think her life Spartan and they will no doubt consider her parents loving, but overly strict by today's standards. In her reluctance to admit she is having trouble with math, Anna resorts to copying from a classmate. She is shamed in front of the entire class and is forced to talk with Father about her problem. As winter begins, Anna longs for a fancy store-bought coat like the one her classmate Rosa wears and, just before Christmas, she and her friend Charlie look through the Sears Roebuck catalog and then write letters to Santa. The story would benefit from less narrative and more dialogue, but today's readers should find it interesting to follow along with Anna and discover just what it was like to be an eight-year-old child in 1913.School Library Journal
Gr 2-4-Life in Baltimore in the years just before World War I might seem slow and dull to today's youngsters, but eight-year-old Anna experiences the same yearnings, disappointments, joys, and adventures that all children do. During the seasons described here, she struggles with long division; she outgrows her winter coat and longs for a red one just like the one belonging to her snobby friend Rosa; she asks Santa for an Erector set, though it is not considered a suitable present for a young lady; and she eavesdrops on her mother and aunts' conversations, only to be thwarted when the adults speak in German (a glossary of German terms is included). Hahn masterfully captures Anna's humiliation at wearing a coat that is too small, her thrill and fear during her fling as a daredevil roller skater, and the comforting sense of family that surrounds these everyday activities. De Groat depicts the period details-dress, transportation, etc.-and the characters' personalities all come to life through her soft, though vibrant pencil illustrations. Reading this book is like taking a quiet, peaceful carriage ride over the cobbled streets of an earlier time.-Linda Bindner, formerly at Athens Clarke County Library, GA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.Kirkus Reviews
Nothing very special happens in Hahn's beguiling slice-of-life novel, set in Baltimore at a time when gaslight illuminated the streets and commuters traveled by trolley. Eight-year-old Anna outgrows her old coat, dares to go down a steep hill on roller-skates, tricks her mother into giving her a birthday party, and plays tag with her friends. What makes the book stand up and shout are not the ordinary events Hahn delineates, but her powerful depiction of the childhood emotions that accompany the inevitable process of growing up. Anna is a great girl, earnest and well-meaning, full of grit, determination, and heart. The book, which is episodic, is divided into four sections—one for every season—and every chapter chronicles a brief incident in vivid, simple prose, ably highlighted by deGroat's straightforward black-and-white illustrations of the era. Life was different in 1913, but the core issues that children face—whether to cheat to save face, or to accept a dare that's too hard—are timeless, and young readers should find Anna's experiences meaningful. (glossary) (Fiction. 6-8)Book Details
Published
April 28, 2001
Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers
Pages
144
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780380733170