December 21, 2004
YA8: The Canning Season
Next up, The Canning Season by Polly Horvath
196 pages
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003
National Book Award Young People's List ; 2003
In The Canning Season, thirteen-year-old Ratchet Clark "finds herself summarily shipped off to a remote, bear-infested corner of the Maine coast, where distant nonagenarian twin cousins live in unprecedented eccentricity." (Publisher's Weekly) They are joined by another unwanted teenage girl named Harper and the girls are treated to wild and wacky stories and bring new life into the old house. School Library Journal explains, that "The approaching canning season becomes not only a metaphor for that moment in each life when everything is ripe, but also provides Ratchet with the self-confidence found in working with others and with a means to support herself."
There's a wonderful sense of finding where you belong, what you're good at and where you fit... and what's more wonderful sounding than a great old house in Maine with books and blueberries and waves and not worrying at all about the rest of the world (aside from the bears). I was definitely swept into the story, the characters and the wonderful setting. I'm ready to go and help with the blueberry jam!
I like the Amazon review which warns, "Though fairytale-like in its setting and its charm, do not be fooled. Suicide, decapitation, wretched mothers, and a sprinkling of profanity pepper this poignant, philosophical, darkly humorous novel that dips into subjects from technology to love to death. In Horvath's capable hands, readers are left believing in the best of human nature as she switches effortlessly from the sublime to the ridiculous and back again. Wild stories, brilliant dialogue, and vats of compassion distinguish Newbery Honor author Horvath's latest offering."
Its been compared to Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach
Gr 6-9, Ages 12+
Posted by Emily at December 21, 2004 04:16 PM | TrackBack