Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Missy Violet & Me
by Barbara Hathaway. A Coretta Scott King Winner.
This slim volume of fiction could be read by a grade 3, but perhaps is better suited for a 4 or 5.
Viney is eleven the summer her family's seventh child is delivered by the midwife, Missy Violet, and can't pay her for this one or the sixth, still owing. So Viney will spend the summer with her, helping "catch babies." And learning. About herb medicine, about where babies really do come from, about how to kindly soothe someone in distress. And, in the end, about having the confidence to step in, and maybe a bit about what she might want for her own future.
This slim volume of fiction could be read by a grade 3, but perhaps is better suited for a 4 or 5.
Viney is eleven the summer her family's seventh child is delivered by the midwife, Missy Violet, and can't pay her for this one or the sixth, still owing. So Viney will spend the summer with her, helping "catch babies." And learning. About herb medicine, about where babies really do come from, about how to kindly soothe someone in distress. And, in the end, about having the confidence to step in, and maybe a bit about what she might want for her own future.
Labels: Coretta Scott King, historical fiction, middle grades
# posted by kittenpie @ 12:20 PM 
