[bksvol-discuss] Ida B
- From: "Jim" <jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bksvol-Discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 22:57:33 -0700
Hi List,
Just submitted the children's book Ida B by Katherine Hannigan. Good scan
cleaned junk, spell checked.
From Publishers Weekly
This insightful, seemingly intuitive first novel digs deep inside the soul of
9-year-old narrator Ida B Applewood. Home-schooled since kindergarten, Ida B is
perfectly content spending all of her free time alone outdoors, talking to the
brook and the trees in the orchard (all of whom she has named). Hannigan
characterizes Ida B's relationship with nature as integral to her being; when
Ida B's father tells her, "We are the earth's caretakers," she replies, "I
think the earth takes care of us, too." Then her mother is diagnosed with
cancer, and Ida B's world turns upside down. Her parents must sell part of her
beloved orchard to pay the medical bills, and Ida B must enroll in public
school. In subtle ways, the author demonstrates how these events shake the
heroine to the core. Ida B, feeling betrayed by her parents, powerless to save
her trees, and determined to hate Ernest B. Lawson Elementary School, allows
her heart to turn into "a sharp, black stone... so hard nobody could break it
and so sharp it would hurt anybody who touched it." Through the first-person
narration, Hannigan lets readers see Ida B's sense of humor and the compassion
beneath her armor. It takes time and the gentle prodding from a sensitive
teacher for Ida B's heart to soften enough for her to appreciate the things
that are steadfast: her parents' love, friendship and the pleasure she receives
from reading aloud. Those who have been forced to make uncomfortable
adjustments will identify with the heroine's attitude-taking family hardships
as personal attacks-and will understand Ida B's reluctance to let go of the old
and make room for the new. Hannigan shows a remarkable understanding of a
stubborn child's perspective in her honest, poignant portrayal of loss and
rebirth. Ages 9-up.
Jim B
Jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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