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LOTTA'S PROGRESS

Name: LOTTA'S PROGRESS
Author: Norma Johnston
ISBN: 0-380-97367-7

by Norma Johnston ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1997

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Spun off from Johnston's Louisa May (1991), this tale of a German immigrant family's harsh first winter in America not only captures some of the flavor and spirit of Little Women, it also artfully suggests how incidents and people from Alcott's real life ended up in her novels. One of five children (with another on the way), Lotta Muller watches hard times take their toll: Her mother and little sister fall ill; Vater, unable to find steady work, takes to drink and finally disappears altogether; her brother is jailed for stealing food. Fortune smiles on the Mullers at last when a kindly passerby gives Lotta the address of Mrs. Bronson Alcott, who briskly enlists her gentle, brilliant husband and four lively daughters to take matters in hand. Sixteen-year-old ``Louy'' becomes Lotta's special friend, helping her to learn English in exchange for German lessons, and teaching her to value her own mind and talents. Chock full both of biographical facts and literary references (the Alcotts are so close to the Marches, and the Mullers to the Hummels, that Johnston's story and the classic may blend in some readers' minds), this book, strong enough to stand on its own, also makes an engaging prelude—or postscript—to its timeless progenitor. (Fiction. 11-13)

Pub Date: June 1, 1997

ISBN: 0-380-97367-7

Page Count: 155

Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1997

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
HARRIET
by Norma Johnston

- BOOK REVIEW
LOUISA MAY
by Norma Johnston

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A YEAR DOWN YONDER

From the Grandma Dowdel series , Vol. 2

by Richard Peck ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2000

Year-round fun.

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Set in 1937 during the so-called “Roosevelt recession,” tight times compel Mary Alice, a Chicago girl, to move in with her grandmother, who lives in a tiny Illinois town so behind the times that it doesn’t “even have a picture show.”

This winning sequel takes place several years after A Long Way From Chicago (1998) leaves off, once again introducing the reader to Mary Alice, now 15, and her Grandma Dowdel, an indomitable, idiosyncratic woman who despite her hard-as-nails exterior is able to see her granddaughter with “eyes in the back of her heart.” Peck’s slice-of-life novel doesn’t have much in the way of a sustained plot; it could almost be a series of short stories strung together, but the narrative never flags, and the book, populated with distinctive, soulful characters who run the gamut from crazy to conventional, holds the reader’s interest throughout. And the vignettes, some involving a persnickety Grandma acting nasty while accomplishing a kindness, others in which she deflates an overblown ego or deals with a petty rivalry, are original and wildly funny. The arena may be a small hick town, but the battle for domination over that tiny turf is fierce, and Grandma Dowdel is a canny player for whom losing isn’t an option. The first-person narration is infused with rich, colorful language—“She was skinnier than a toothpick with termites”—and Mary Alice’s shrewd, prickly observations: “Anybody who thinks small towns are friendlier than big cities lives in a big city.”

Year-round fun. (Fiction. 11-13)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000

ISBN: 978-0-8037-2518-8

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BEST MAN
by Richard Peck

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MOUSE WITH THE QUESTION MARK TAIL
by Richard Peck ; illustrated by Kelly Murphy

- BOOK REVIEW
SECRETS AT SEA
by Richard Peck illustrated by Kelly Murphy

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JOEY PIGZA SWALLOWED THE KEY

From the Joey Pigza series , Vol. 1

by Jack Gantos ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1998

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If Rotten Ralph were a boy instead of a cat, he might be Joey, the hyperactive hero of Gantos's new book, except that Joey is never bad on purpose. In the first-person narration, it quickly becomes clear that he can't help himself; he's so wound up that he not only practically bounces off walls, he literally swallows his house key (which he wears on a string around his neck and which he pull back up, complete with souvenirs of the food he just ate). Gantos's straightforward view of what it's like to be Joey is so honest it hurts. Joey has been abandoned by his alcoholic father and, for a time, by his mother (who also drinks); his grandmother, just as hyperactive as he is, abuses Joey while he's in her care. One mishap after another leads Joey first from his regular classroom to special education classes and then to a special education school. With medication, counseling, and positive reinforcement, Joey calms down. Despite a lighthearted title and jacket painting, the story is simultaneously comic and horrific; Gantos takes readers right inside a human whirlwind where the ride is bumpy and often frightening, especially for Joey. But a river of compassion for the characters runs through the pages, not only for Joey but for his overextended mom and his usually patient, always worried (if only for their safety) teachers. Mature readers will find this harsh tale softened by unusual empathy and leavened by genuinely funny events. (Fiction. 11-13)