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A 2003 Newbery Honor Book
The Barnes & Noble Review
Bringing back memories of her extraordinarily moving yet quietly told novel Belle Teal, Ann M. Martin (who also pens the popular Baby-Sitters Club series) takes us back to the 1960s, where we spend a not-so-typical summer with one girl and her mentally ill uncle.
Hattie Owen enjoys peaceful Millerton summertimes with "houses nodding in the heavy air," being in charge of Miss Hagerty's breakfast tray at her parents' boardinghouse, and drinking lemonade on the porch after supper. Yet this year, it's different -- Hattie's uncle Adam is coming home. Returning from a Chicago school that's just closed and whose existence is kept quiet by adult family members, Adam is a 21-year-old man with a child's mind, having a knack for talking quickly, a savant-like ability for remembering weekdays, and a passion for I Love Lucy. Hattie and Adam wind up spending precious time together -- including a visit to the recently arrived carnival with Hattie's new friend, Leila -- which makes her feel soulfully connected to her uncle, especially when he declares that she's "one of the people who can lift the corners of our universe." But when Hattie takes Adam on the ferris wheel one night, it sets off dramatic events that lead Hattie's family to strengthen its bonds and changes her life's outlook forever.
A novel with a flavor similar to Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie or Kimberly Willis Holt's When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, this absorbing look at a shake-up of one family's small-town normalcy will bring you to tears but leave you feeling ultimately triumphant. Martin paints her characters masterfully, letting Uncle Adam's unsure energy carry an unpredictable foreboding beneath the story while Hattie builds a gradual rebelliousness against the denial and unspoken truths that surround her. A powerful work that presses all the right emotional buttons and touches on all-too-human themes, A Corner of the Universe is one book that should not be missed.
Matt Warner
Publishers Weekly
A 12-year-old girl had been anticipating a summer as comfortably uneventful as all the others-until her uncle with "mental problems" makes a surprise entrance, turning everything upside-down. "Hearts will go out to both as they step outside the confines of their familiar world to meet some painful challenges," wrote PW in a starred review. Ages 12-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal
Gr 5-8-Twelve-year-old Hattie Owen's life changes forever when a hitherto unknown mentally disabled uncle returns to live with her grandparents in the small town that comprises Hattie's entire world in this novel by Ann M. Martin (Scholastic, 2002). From their first meeting it's clear that Adam sees life much differently and expresses emotions more intensely than is "normal" or comfortable for his aging and controlling parents. His outlandish antics, unexpected outbursts, and emotional vulnerability make him an appealing, yet challenging person whose tendency to ask questions that others might prefer be left unvoiced creates both humorous and uncomfortable situations. Judith Ivey's soft-spoken yet impassioned narration perfectly captures Hattie's desire to help her uncle navigate the raging currents of his feelings as well as her fear that his problems may someday surface in her own personality. Hattie's longing for things to remain the same and her fear of the world beyond her neighborhood conflict with her tentative efforts to make new friends. Ivey effectively uses this tension to draw listeners ever deeper into Hattie's world, providing a thoroughly satisfying and thought-provoking auditory experience.-Cindy Lombardo, Orrville Public Library, OH Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
In July of 1960, just as she is turning 12, Hattie Owen's quiet, solitary summer-occupied with books, the various residents of her parents' boarding house, small errands about town, and avoiding her grandmother-is disrupted, bringing a loss of a kind of innocence and a look at the wide borders of the world. Hattie's autistic, emotionally challenged young uncle returns home to live with his parents after the institutional school in which he has lived half his life-and all of Hattie's-closes permanently. Hattie's well-to-do and severe grandparents are clearly burdened by their difficult child, but Hattie is intrigued, and charmed, by Adam's rapid-fire way of talking, his free-associating, and his liberal use of dialogue from "I Love Lucy." Adam's quirky, childlike enthusiasm and his obvious delight with her endear him to Hattie immediately, as does his vulnerability to Nana's strictures on behavior. When a carnival comes to town Hattie befriends Leila, a girl who travels in the carnival with her family, and it is Adam and Leila who together give Hattie her first birthday celebration among friends. Adam's crush on one of the boarders at the Owens' rooming house is the catalyst for the tragic ending, though Adam's fundamental inability to protect his feelings in the world destroys him. His suicide and its aftermath-his siblings' grief, his mother's sudden remorse, Hattie's courage to speak at his funeral-are nearly unsurprising, but moving nevertheless. In the end Hattie has had a glimpse into, as she says, "how quickly our world can swing between what is comfortable and familiar and what is unexpected and horrifying," and she has opted for herself to live in such a world, to keep lifting thecorners of the universe. Martin's voice for Hattie is likable, clear, and consistent; her prose doesn't falter. A solid, affecting read.
From the Publisher
* "Martin excels at evoking simply the intricacies of friendship . . . told in the present tense in Hattie's personable voice, the story takes on serious concerns but has equally strong standing as the kind of novel kids mean when they ask for 'a book about friends.'" — Horn Book Magazine, starred review* "This is a fully realized roller coaster of emotions, and readers take the ride right along with Hattie." — Booklist, starred review* "With characteristic tenderness and wisdom, the author portrays the complex relationship between the sympathetic heroine and her uncle . . . . Hearts will go out to both Hattie and Adam as they step outside the confines of their familiar world to meet some painful challenges." — Publishers Weekly, — starred review * "Martin delivers wonderfully real characters and an engrossing plot through the viewpoint of a girl who tries so earnestly to connect with those around her. This is an important story, as evocative on the subject of mental illness as Ruth White's Memories of Summer (Farrar, 2000)." — School Library Journal, starred review* "Martin's voice for Hattie is likable, clear, and consistent; her prose doesn't falter. A solid, affecting read." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review "This bittersweet and quiet story of friendship and loss will appeal to younger readers, as well as to those who have carried the title of 'different.'" — Voice of Youth Advocates
OCT/NOV 03 - AudioFile
The author’s comments at the end of this audiobook confirm the personal connection she has with this story of families and tolerance, but listeners have no doubt in the honesty of 11-year-old Hattie Owen. Steeped in a 1950s setting, adults will especially enjoy the fine cultural details and children will easily grasp the different pace and manners of the time, and Hattie’s small town life. Judith Ivey is exceptional--conveying striking emotional and compassionate power. Ivey’s portrait of Adam, Hattie’s disabled, savant uncle who suddenly reenters the family’s life, is nothing short of brilliant. His accelerated, charged speech, and rhythmic then agitated tone and timbre is masterfully handled. Ivey masters the dialogue, mimicking “I Love Lucy” shows and making obtuse connections, giving listeners an involving glimpse into Adam’s corner of the universe. R.F.W. Winner of 2004 ALA Notable Recording, 2004 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
