Newbery Honor Winner Ruth White gives readers an unforgettable story of one girl’s experience growing up with a sister that develops sc...
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reviews
Mar 28, 2011
Beccie
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I gave this book 5 stars because it was simply.....amazing! Did I like it? Can you like something that rips your heart out? That makes you cry so much you have to take your contacts out? This author really speaks to me. Her writing grips me. Her words stay with me. I am a better person for having read this. I don't think I will ever look at mental illness the same way again. Now I will think of the families in the background, struggling to hold on to that person they love, even though i
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Jul 05, 2010
Erin
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My classification of this one might be stretching things a little. The multicultural element is a family from the rural Virginia with a schizophrenic daughter, and the urban location is Flint, MI in 1955. But I think that multiculturalism should include more than just ethnicities; reading this book, A Corner of the Universe, and (george) indicated to me that the mentally ill do occupy their own culture, as do the people who interact with them on a daily basis. Those who are not members of thi
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Sep 04, 2010
Kim
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This book reminded me of no other book as much as "A Corner of the Universe," and for a very good reason: there is most likely not another book for middle grade audiences that shows how utterly heartbreaking mental illness can be to a family, especially to a young girl caught in the middle of all of it. I doubt that many kids would WANT to read a book as sad as this (or that), but children with the same issues or those who are curious should be given these books. Anyway, as a lover of
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Sep 11, 2009
Andrea
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Memories of Summer is the bittersweet story of family relationships and how they are affected by a family member whose whole personality is changed through psychiatric challenges. It is told through the voice of Summers' younger sister. Her emotions and perspective are poignant and help the reader to empathize with what "losing" a loved one to mental illness can feel like to the family. I especially enjoyed this book because I have a mother who was diagnosed with mental illness in h
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Sep 03, 2009
Sandra
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This book is set in the Depression and gives a good picture of mountain people forced to move to the city to eke out a bare living. However, the main theme/conflict revolves around the 13 year old protagonist’s sister, Summer, who is gradually manifesting severe schizophrenia. The protagonist must deal with the horrifying changes in her beloved and idealized sister and at the same time try to contribute to the family and make a life for herself as a “normal” teenager. Positive. Moves a littl
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Jan 31, 2009
Michelle
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I picked up this book this afternoon because it was in my library downstairs and the book I am reading is upstairs. The kids were playing outside and this was short, so I figured I would read a few pages while they ran amok. I don't know where or when I purchased this but I was surprised how much I liked this book. It is extremely short and the writing very simple, yet somehow I totally connected with the characters. It's fairly heavy (thirteen year old dealing with her sister's mental illness)
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Mar 09, 2010
Sabrina
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Very quick and short read. I was surprised at the abruptness of the ending, I had expected it to go a bit further into their lives, or possible have some big event that changed everything. It just crept along and then ended. After I finished the book I did a little research on the author and it turns out this is a very personal story. She has an older sister who was diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was a teenager. I thought her treatment of the subject was very honest, but overall I jus
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Jan 18, 2009
Jennifer
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My daughter just finished reading this book and she thought I would like it. I originally thought the book was about a girl's memories of summer time, however, it is really about this girls memories of her sister, Summer, who has schizophrenia. I thought that the author did a good job writing about mental illness. We had some good discussion afterward.
Sep 23, 2011
Jane
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I liked reading this book. It demonstrates the strenghth of a younger to get it together and care for her older sister who has mental illness issues. They move as a family minus the mother from Virginia to Michigan so their father can find work. Good for teens and up.
Mar 22, 2011
Kendra
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This was an interesting story of a girl and her realization of her sister's mental illness (schizophrenia) and set in the 50s. It was interesting to find out that this was a somewhat true story of the author and her memories of her sister who also suffered with this illness.
Feb 01, 2009
Marianne
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Don't pick this up if you're in for a light and uplifting read. This was a very dark book, but very good. It discusses the struggles a family faces when the oldest daughter is bipolar. This is hard in any age, but this book takes place in the 1950s.
Aug 29, 2011
I really enjoyed reading this book over summer because it's so realistic and it talks about things that you wont always see in other books. I personally, connected with the characters and I got to feel the same way they felt.
Aug 01, 2009
Krista the Krazy Kataloguer
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I felt bad for Lyric's helplessness in the face of her sister's steady decline into schizophrenia. I can't imagine being in such a situation, especially with no mother to help. I highly recommend this for middle school on up.
Feb 09, 2009
Todd
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Takes place in 50s, Flint, Michigan. Girl has to deal with her older sister’s mental deterioration. Very good. The library copy has a very plain, outdated cover so it's not necessarily one you'd go to!
Sep 09, 2009
Grace
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lyric is a normal 14 year old struggling to help her sister,summer,whom some might say is loony.its sad to hear about how summer lives her life and how she realizes shes fading away,but it is a great read.
Nov 12, 2009
Imarsh
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this was a slow book not very intereasting but still deep and it has a nice stroy line to it. it does not have a happy ending and its pretty sad but ok
Nov 12, 2010
Kirsten
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This was pleasant and interesting - another period piece. An up-close and personal look at a family member developing full-blown schizophrenia.
Jun 20, 2010
Sara
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Very quick read about a young teenager who moves with her father and sister from a holler in Appalachia to Flint, Mich., in the 1950s, and her sister's quick descent into schizophrenia. Sad, but sweet.
Feb 19, 2009
Laura
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Another book I read quite a long time ago, but I remember that I loved it when I read it, though it is quite sad.
Sep 29, 2011
Hebert-Birkenbach.Sierra
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I think that this book was very enlightening and opened my eyes to a subject that I rarely think about.
May 02, 2010
Christie
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This is a great novel for children! There is much excitement throughout the book between two sisters.
Sep 17, 2009
i read this book a really long time ago. i don't remember a lot of details but i do remember loving it.
Mar 05, 2009
Jourdan
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This books is so good but so sad at the end. I highly recommend this book.
Jun 09, 2009
Doodle
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I won't be keeping this one in my classroom. I felt it was very depressing.
Oct 08, 2011
Amanda (Cirque Du Freak Freak)
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I loved this book! I haven’t read a great book in awhile but this book defiantly made up for that. I felt so bad for Lyric, I can’t imagine how horribly difficult that kind of situation could be, and knowing it was based of the author, Ruth White’s, real sister made it even better. I also enjoyed that there wasn’t that happy go lucky ending that tends to happen in a lot of these books that are depressing through most of it. Overall this was a beautifully written, imaginative, heart wrenching sto
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Mar 30, 2009
Melissa
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I enjoy Ruth Whites books because they are based off of her life. This was a good little read. It took about an hour.
Oct 23, 2007
Kathy
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This book was shelved with adult fiction in the library, but it is definitely youth fiction. It was an enjoyable read, but I didn't find the description and character development that I have seen in other books by this author. A father and his two daughters move to Flint, Michigan from the South. White did her homework with regards to the landscape of Flint at that time (late 50s). I will recommend this book to certain students, but I have liked other books about Flint and this era better.
