Borrowed Children

by George Ella Lyon

Overview

Golden Kite Award winner
1989 Booklist, Editor's Choice
School Library Journal, Best Books of 1988
Publisher's Weekly , Best Books of 1988
Twelve-year-old Amanda Perritt is pitched head-first into adult responsibilities when she has to quit school to care for her newborn brother and invalid mother. She gets an escape, she thinks, when she's offered a trip to stay with her grandmother and her sophisticated Aunt Laura in Memphis. But during the visit, she discovers unexpected parallels between her mother's childhood and her own and comes to understand her own individuality as well as what it means to be part of a family.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813109725
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	09/23/1999
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	134
Sales rank:	1,074,738
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Lexile:	580L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

George Ella Lyon is a former Kentucky poet laureate and the award-winning author of more than forty books for children and adults, including Many-Storied House, Which Side Are You On? (Winner, Aesop Prize), She Let Herself Go, Back, and Catalpa (Appalachian Writers Association Book of the Year). Her poem "Where I’m From" is featured in the PBS series The United States of Poetry and has become a model for teachers around the world. She lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

Editorial Reviews

The beauty of the book is the simple reading and the powerful story that Lyon presents.

Floyd County Times

A new large paperback edition of what should be a classic and on the must read list for young adults.

Bourbon Times

Lyon never uses her first-person narrator to talk down to young readers. Instead, she provides a singular voice to tell an equally singular story.

New York Times Book Review

A choice coming-of-age story, whose telling is subtle and whose writing is vivid.

Booklist (starred review)

Teens will admire Amanda's resilience.

Southern Living

"A choice coming-of-age story, whose telling is subtle and whose writing is vivid." -- Booklist (starred review)

"A many layered story of near tragedies and funny incidents, family history and bonds, and a girl who comes to understand her family and how much she loves each member of it." -- School Library Journal (starred review)

"A new large paperback edition of what should be a classic and on the must read list for young adults." -- Bourbon Times

"Lyon never uses her first-person narrator to talk down to young readers. Instead, she provides a singular voice to tell an equally singular story." -- New York Times Book Review

"Lyon's simple yet penetrating observations on families and love convey truths as pertinent to adults as to youthful readers." -- Publishers Weekly

"Teens will admire Amanda's resilience." -- Southern Living

"The beauty of the book is the simple reading and the powerful story that Lyon presents." -- Floyd County Times

From the Publisher

Because her mother is bedridden, Mandy, the narrator of this Depression-era tale, has to stay home from her beloved school to run the house. Mandy's voice is older than her 12 years, but it seems appropriate to a girl who takes on daunting chorescooking and cleaning for a family of eight in an isolated farmhouse with no electricity or running water. When the strain of her many responsibilities takes its toll on Mandy, she is allowed to take a trip alone to visit her maternal grandmother at Christmastime. Mandy sees the common thread that connects her grandmother to her mother and on down to herself. Lyon has created a wonderful character in Mandy, at once smart, wry and naive. Descriptions are sparked with lambent imagery (``Organ music is rich and excited, like darkness broken into light''). Lyon's simple yet penetrating observations on families and love convey truths as pertinent to adults as to youthful readers. Ages 10-12. (March)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 5-9 With eloquence and an econo my of language, Lyon tells a story of dreams, of journeys, of family love and acceptance, set in Kentucky dur ing the Depression. When Mama is forced to stay in bed for six weeks af ter the birth of William, it is 12-year- old Mandy who becomes responsible for the care of her younger siblings and who keeps house for her older brothers and father. Once Mama is able to take over, Mandy is sent to vis it her well-to-do grandparents in Mem phis because she deserves a change but all is not what it seems, Mandy discovers, as she finds unexpected parallels between her mother's child hood and her own. Lyon has an intui tive understanding of the logic and feelings of children. With wit, humor, and insight, she shows Mandy's strain, anger, and fear when she is forced to quit school to take on the tremendous responsibilities thrust upon her. She weaves together a many layered story of near tragedies and funny incidents, family history and bonds, and a girl who comes to understand her family and how much she loves each member of it. Lyon has a natural ear for dia logue, and while the book is complex and offers much to think about, the amount of dialogue keeps it from being difficult reading. Mandy will long re main in readers' memories, but all of the minor characters are as adeptly drawn. Borrowed Children is fresh, different, and totally captivating. Trev Jones, ``School Library Journal''

School Library Journal