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The Year The Swallows Came Early (2009)

by Kathryn Fitzmaurice(Favorite Author)

3.71 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0061624977 (ISBN13: 9780061624971)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

HarperCollins

review 1: Recommendations do make a difference - this is one of those "literary" books I would not normally pick up were it not for rave reviews. Yes, it is a "quiet middle grade" book that would probably never hit the NYT bestseller list but it is memorable all the same. A coming of age story with deep themes: betrayal & forgiveness but voice/character cannot be underrated. The narrator has a remarkable distinctive voice that reminds meof Sharon Creech but with with a mature, west-coast feel. A weighty subject that is handled deftly with lightness, sweetness and humor - the characters are very real but to me this book succeeds because the "Groovy" Robinson is one of the most authentic middle-grade voices I have ever heard.
review 2: At first I was a bit skeptical abou... moret how good this book was. I didn't really choose to read it, everybody else in the book club did. After all, it sounded pretty boring, a girl in a town with her best friend who loves to cook with her mom and dad in a troubled relationship and at first it starts out slow. After I got around the middle I started realizing how deep the story was. Everybody had a problem in the story and it was real. Nobody's family life is perfect, Groovy's dad was put in prison, she can't go to cooking school and her mom is so mad. But I really realized that a lot of the symbolism had to do with Frankie's family life and his mom. I soon realized that the swallows represented maybe strength of family or hope or even forgiveness. Maybe all three, even. It was such a beautifully written tale that I would never have expected to be so deep and realistic. less

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