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MY DARLIN’ CLEMENTINE

Name: MY DARLIN’ CLEMENTINE
Author: Kristiana Gregory
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2198-5

by Kristiana Gregory ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2009

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“Oh, my darlin’, oh, my darlin,’ oh, my darlin’ Clementine, / thou art lost and gone forever—” Gregory uses the familiar folksong as a jumping-off place for a surprisingly original story. In the fictional mining town of Nugget, Idaho, Clementine’s father is known as “Dry Boots” because arthritis prevents him from panning for gold in creeks. He rides with the local vigilantes and gambles himself deeper into debt; her mother cooks for local miners and keeps secrets of her own. Clementine longs to study medicine, but when she’s offered a chance to right her family’s fortunes via an arranged marriage, she doesn’t see how she can refuse. And yet—thanks to her now-dead mother’s influence—she can also see a way out. The first-person narrative brims with confident details, making the mining town and particularly the minor characters—Tall Sing, a Chinese immigrant who works for them, the miners Whiskey Nose and Jesse Blue, and the rest—come vividly to life. Highly recommended. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: April 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-0-8234-2198-5

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2009

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
BRONTE’S BOOK CLUB
by Kristiana Gregory

- BOOK REVIEW
WE ARE PATRIOTS
by Kristiana Gregory

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREAT RAILROAD RACE
by Kristiana Gregory

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THE BLETCHLEY RIDDLE

by Ruta Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 8, 2024

A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates.

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Siblings decode familial and wartime secrets in 1940 England.

Headstrong 14-year-old Lizzie Novis refuses to believe that her mother, a U.S. embassy clerk who was working in Poland, is dead. After fleeing from her grandmother—who’s attempting to bring her back to America—Lizzie locates her 19-year-old brother, Jakob, a Cambridge mathematician who’s stationed at the clandestine British intelligence site called Bletchley Park. Hiding from her grandmother’s estate steward, Lizzie becomes a messenger at Bletchley Park, ferrying letters across the grounds while Jakob attempts to both break the ciphers generated by the German Enigma machines and help his sister face the reality of their mother’s likely fate. With a suspicious MI5 agent inquiring about Mum and clues and codes piling up, the siblings, whose late father was “Polish Jewish British,” eventually decipher the truth. Shared narrative duties between the siblings effectively juxtapose the measured Jakob with the spirited Lizzie. Lizzie’s directness is repeatedly attributed to her being “half American,” which proves tiresome, but Jakob’s development from reserved to risk-tolerant provides welcome nuance. The authors introduce and carefully explain a variety of decoding methodologies, inspiring readers to attempt their own. A thoughtful and entertaining historical note identifies the key figures who appear in the book, such as Alan Turing, as well as the real-life bases for the fictional characters. Interspersed photos and images of ephemera help situate the narrative’s time period.

A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates. (Historical mystery. 10-14)