Author: Jennifer L. Holm
Title: Our Only May Amelia
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, 1999
Grade Level: 4th & up
Summary: The only girl in a large Finnish family struggles to find her identity as a young woman in late 19th century Washington State.
Strengths: This is a great example of a family story. It utilizes personal information and memories of a Finnish family in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The story is set on an island and the children of the family find themselves getting into adventures and into trouble in the wilderness of Washington state. I think a lot of children, especially girls, will also relate to the struggle of finding their place not only as a young adult but within a family.
Concerns: I found some parts of this book to be extremely boring or drawn out. This book is longer, which may discourage some readers from continuing through these sections. The lack of quotation marks also makes following the dialogue difficult. I think some readers may struggle to understand the book due to this punctuation choice. The baby Amy passing away may also be upsetting to some children, so special sensitivity and awareness must be given.
Classroom Use: I think this book would be a great read aloud book. It would be a great way for students to get acquainted with families of the West in the nineteenth century and even to study family histories. A book like this might spark a creative writing activity where students create their own family history or recount an important event in their family.
*Capitol Choice Book, 1999 *Newberry Honor Book, 1999
(image from Amazon.com)
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