Synopsis
Living together way out in the country, an African American girl and her grandmother have such a close relationship that they communicate without words.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1995-09-01 | | Illustrator: | Gail Gordon Carter |
| Size | | Height: | 10.5 in | | Width: | 9.0 in | | Thickness: | 0.5 in | | Weight: | 12.8 oz |
Publisher's Note
Enjoying a loving life with her grandmother, who tends the spirits of their family in glass bottles hung on tree limbs, a little girl finds their existence threatened when social workers attempt to put her in a foster home.
Industry Reviews
K-Gr 3 This ambitious text starts out simply and elegantly, introducing a girl, her grandmother, and what appears to be the central focus of the book, a tree that houses the old spirits of the family. To contain these exuberant spirits, colored glass bottles are placed over the limbs. The relationship between grandmother and granddaughter is then explored. The two spend their time in loving silence as the girl learns to garden, swim, and knit. But trouble appears in the form of two state workers who decide that the girl would be better off in a more traditional home. When they arrive to take her away, the grandmother wordlessly summons the ancestral spirits for help. And help they do, sending those interfering folks back on down the road, in silent agreement never to return. The soft watercolor illustrations add greatly to readers' appreciation of the characters and setting. They are sunny, warm, and highly sympathetic toward the grandmother, while making it clear that it's the state workers who have no color or inner vision in their lives. However, although the language is touched with a poetic sensibility, the themes are weighty, even disturbing. The idea of two people communicating without words builds to unnatural proportions, while the tree, which is the hook of the tale, diminishes in importance until the grand finale. Martha Topol, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City, MI
Lopate
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