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Little Audrey (2008)

by Ruth White(Favorite Author)

3.77 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0374345805 (ISBN13: 9780374345808)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

review 1: This book is about a little girl who is living in Jewell Valley, Virginia. The city is a coal mining camp for families of the coal miners. Audrey is an eleven year old and recently is recovering from the scarlet fever which has made her very skinny. The book is written from the perspective of Audrey who is the real author’s older sister. Audrey’s mom is trying to recover from losing a baby while her dad is a drunk who leaves little money for the family for food. Audrey has three younger sisters and they are all trying to live at ends meet. Throughout the book, the reader experiences what life was like for the families of coal miners back in 1948. This book provides pictures of Audrey and her family; this is a great strength for this book because the reader has images t... moreo relate to the story being told. When you read books that are non-fiction, it is hard to relate to the characters or imagine how real the story actually is. What I would consider a weakness for this book is how it is written. This book is about a very different era in time and that can sometimes be hard for students to show interest because they might think it is boring. This book demonstrates the criteria for Notable Books for a Global Society by demonstrating unique language and style, honors and celebrates diversity and meets criteria of quality for the genre. Audrey’s family goes through a tragedy when their father dies. The whole community comes together to support the family of a big loss. Many of the families bring them food even when they can barley feed themselves. Even in times of desperate measures, families are still helping families even when everyone is struggling just the same. I think the author does a great job of narrating through Audrey. Even though the author is not Audrey and Audrey is actually her older sister in real life, she still thoroughly explains her experiences through thought and words. The reader can believe that Audrey is the one actually telling the story. She uses language that is age and time appropriate which makes sense since she lived through this era of time. I think the author gives the voice of Audrey a great sense of depth that allows the reader to relate to her right off the back. I think this book follows very well with the genre of historical fiction. The key criteria of a historical fiction book include accuracy, events, language, culture and dress (Tunnels & Jacobs, 2012). All of these key elements are portrayed during the time period. The events that happen throughout the story are accurate and believable. The book is very accurate in all of these qualities. This is the book we chose to use in our classroom because we felt that it best demonstrated the criteria for a Notable Book for a Global Society. We feel that this book would best appeal to the students because some students could probably relate to this story like how her dad dies and the community comes together to support her family. Loss is a very common when it comes to students in the classroom. Eventually they will all experience loss so this book could help them open up about it or prepare them for it. It is also a pretty easy read whether the teacher reads it out loud to the class or the class individually reads it to themselves. The book is also in first person through Audrey so that way students can see where she is coming from and can see her point of view.
review 2: 11-year-old Audrey has a hard life. The oldest of four girls, she lives with her Mommy and Daddy in the coal mining town of Jewell Valley in southwest Virginia in 1948. Her family is poor, living on the scripts her Daddy earns from working in the coal mines. They don’t have a refrigerator, and thanks to her Daddy’s drinking, they often don’t have food. But there is hope in Audrey’s life as well. She has a wonderful new friend Virgil, and loves her teacher. But something will happen that will change Audrey’s life forever. And nothing will ever be the same again. Based on author Ruth White's family, Little Audrey is a fascinating look at a life very different from others, filled with sadness, hope and triumph._________________________________A very short read, I had a difficult time getting in to Little Audrey. I don't normally pick up historical fiction like this, but did since we were reading it for the CLCSC book club. Ultimately, I was glad I did. White give a glipse into a very different world that one that I think many people know today, illustrating just what it was like to be poor in a coal mining town. And the ending made it all worthwhile for me, as I think that last chapter was just so beautiful. less

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