Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

A Corner of the Universe

4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 · rating details · 6,442 ratings · 701 reviews

A 2003 Newbery Honor Book

The Barnes & Noble Review
Bringing back memories of her extraordinarily moving yet quietly told novel Belle Teal, Ann M. Martin (who also pens the popular Baby-Sitters Club series) takes us back to the 1960s, where we spend a not-so-typical summer with one girl and her mentally ill uncle.

Hattie Owen enjoys peaceful Millerton summertimes with "ho

...more A 2003 Newbery Honor Book

Hattie Owen enjoys peaceful Millerton summertimes with "houses nodding in the heavy air," being in charge of Miss Hagerty's breakfast tray at her parents' boardinghouse, and drinking lemonade on the porch after supper. Yet this year, it's different -- Hattie's uncle Adam is coming home. Returning from a Chicago school that's just closed and whose existence is kept quiet by adult family members, Adam is a 21-year-old man with a child's mind, having a knack for talking quickly, a savant-like ability for remembering weekdays, and a passion for I Love Lucy. Hattie and Adam wind up spending precious time together -- including a visit to the recently arrived carnival with Hattie's new friend, Leila -- which makes her feel soulfully connected to her uncle, especially when he declares that she's "one of the people who can lift the corners of our universe." But when Hattie takes Adam on the ferris wheel one night, it sets off dramatic events that lead Hattie's family to strengthen its bonds and changes her life's outlook forever.

A novel with a flavor similar to Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie or Kimberly Willis Holt's When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, this absorbing look at a shake-up of one family's small-town normalcy will bring you to tears but leave you feeling ultimately triumphant. Martin paints her characters masterfully, letting Uncle Adam's unsure energy carry an unpredictable foreboding beneath the story while Hattie builds a gradual rebelliousness against the denial and unspoken truths that surround her. A powerful work that presses all the right emotional buttons and touches on all-too-human themes, A Corner of the Universe is one book that should not be missed.

Matt Warner

(less)

Paperback, 224 pages

Published June 1st 2005 by Scholastic Inc. (first published October 1st 2002)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Tales from a Not-So-Talented Pop Star by Rachel Renée Russell

Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl by Rachel Renée Russell

books you'll enjoy (Girls)

46th out of 332 books — 240 voters

Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Newbery Medal Honor Books

47th out of 230 books — 177 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Sep 10, 2008 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Anna by: Roger

Shelves: favorites

I saw that one of my friends read this book, so I decided to check it out. I love Ann M. Martin, she is one of my favorite authors, so before I even started reading this, I knew I would like it. It's heartwarming and an amazing story.

This eleven year old girl (soon to be twelve) named Hattie lives in a boardinghouse with her family. She wakes up early, does her chores, and then reads or does whatever else she feels like doing. Up until the day she realizes she has an uncle Adam, that she never k...more

8 likes · like · see review

Jun 18, 2008 Nicole Fellows rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: juvenile-literature

This book is about a girl named Hattie who lives in a boarding house with her parents where she has the opportunity to meet many interesting people. On one particularly special summer, she finds out about her uncle that she never knew she had. She realizes that the reason no one talked about him was because he is mentally handicapped. The story talks about Hattie's summer with her uncle Adam and how she grows to love him very much. She has many difficult experiences as she struggles with the fa...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 17, 2007 Tiffany rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone

A Corner Of The Universe is about a girl named Hattie who met her uncle, Adam for the first time. Her family never told her that she has an uncle. They only told her that she has a uncle when the school her uncle attend, is close down. Her Uncle Adam has to come back to live with Hattie's grandparents until they find another school for him. Hattie wonders why her family never told her that she has a uncle or mention anything about him to her. Later on in the story she finds out the reason they d...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 16, 2008 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: assigned-novels

Hattie Owen is a shy girl who lives in a quiet town where everyone knows everyone else's business. There is only one piece of business that she is left out of the loop on until this summer, the fact that she has an uncle... and that uncle is mentally challenged. This story is about how Hattie grows to know and love her uncle, even with all of his flaws -- which is something that seems to be hard for other people in his life at times.

I loved how the characters in this book were so real and belie...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 06, 2008 Alison rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Teens

Recommended to Alison by: me, myself, and i

This book is about a girl name Hattie Owen; she lives in a boarding house with her parents and the other borders. Her live has a regular routine and is simple till she learns that her mother has another brother. Hattie finds out about her Uncle Adam who has been living at a boarding school for “special” people ever since Hattie was little. Adam and Hattie become friends in ways that most people don’t, they share secrets as though they have known each other their whole lives. She also makes new f...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 02, 2013 Sarah Gagliano rated it 5 of 5 stars

The first time I ever picked up a copy of A Corner of the Universe I was in the fourth grade. The more my eyes took in the story, the more the pages turned and the more immensely I was draw in. I instantly fell in love with the plot and the true heart of this short novel... I have always been quite picky with most of my reading choices, but Hattie Owen and her uncle, Adam Mercer, changed that fact for once.

A Corner of the Universe follows twelve-year-old Hattie Owen and the summer that would ch...more

like · see review

Dec 27, 2012 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

My Amazon review: Hattie is a loner who prefers the company of her family's boarding home residents to the snickering insipidness of her classmates. When her Uncle-kept-secret, Adam, comes into her life, she finds him to be a challenging but worthy friend. She sees a joy in life through his eyes that she has never seen before and she learns a sense of responsibility and righteousness in situations where she would otherwise not have been challenged. His presence and his own personal mental challe...more

like · see review

Oct 24, 2012 Kiara Gomez rated it 4 of 5 stars

"A Corner of the Universe" is a very unique story about a young girl named Hattie. Hattie lives in weird living conditions. She lives in a small town and her parents run a boarding house. In the boarding house, apart from her and her parents , lives Ms. Hagetry, Angel Valetine and Mr.Penny. One day Hattie's parents tell Hattie about an uncle who was coming to move in with her grandparents who also lived in the same town. His name was Adam , and he was different. Adam had a disease that caused hi...more

like · see review

Oct 23, 2012 Kate Watson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1-12

Hattie is an almost 12-year-old girl who helps run the family boarding house. The people who stay with them are like family, and life has a predictable pattern – until two big things happen. First, Hattie finds out she has an Uncle Adam who she has never heard about. Second, a carnival comes to their small town. She gets to know Adam and finds that he has some mental problems, and thinks of him more as a friend than an uncle. And she makes frequent visits to the carnival, where she makes another...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 21, 2012 M. rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 2003 Newberry Honor Book. I listened to this on CD and really liked it. A couple of caveats, though--although it's supposed to be for kids 9 - 13, I'd be careful about the younger kids as it's really more of a middle school book because of subject matter, mild sexual content, and the ending--suicide.

Hattie, a quiet 11-going-on-12 year old, lives in a small town in 1960. It's summer and she's planning to spend her time reading, helping out at her family's boarding house, and spending time with (...more 2003 Newberry Honor Book. I listened to this on CD and really liked it. A couple of caveats, though--although it's supposed to be for kids 9 - 13, I'd be careful about the younger kids as it's really more of a middle school book because of subject matter, mild sexual content, and the ending--suicide.

Hattie, a quiet 11-going-on-12 year old, lives in a small town in 1960. It's summer and she's planning to spend her time reading, helping out at her family's boarding house, and spending time with (adult) friends since her best friend Betsy is going away for the summer. And then she's told she has an uncle she's never heard of, Adam, who has lived "at his school" her entire life. Adam's school is closing and Adam is coming home to live with his parents, Hattie's grandparents, until another placement can be found for him.

It's obvious pretty quickly that Adam is autistic, but no one knew much about autism is 1960 and all Hattie knows is that he's different. Nana, his mother, appears to be proper and rigid and part of the town's elite, and she behaves as though this strange son needs to be locked away to save her from embarrassment. (Papa, his father, seems like an onlooker in the famiy drama.) However, to Hattie he's fun and exuberant and very occasionally scary when he flies into rages. He and Hattie quickly become friends. Hattie and Adam also become friends with Leila whose family owns a traveling carnival in town for a few weeks.

Although some of Hattie's classmates have mean things to say about Adam, things go along quite well until Hattie and Leila take Adam for an evening at the carnival. The ferris wheel gets stuck with the three of them at the top and Adam panics, his terror making him oblivious to anything said to him to calm him down. He ends up in the hospital. A few days later, apparently recovered from the ferris wheel situation, Adam sees his crush, Angel Valentine, partially undressed and in the arms of her boyfriend. He runs away and hangs himself. Hattie works to reconcile Adam's suicide with what she knows of him and his world and, in the end, decides she agrees with Adam's philosophy of needing to lift little corners of the universe to see what's under them whether what's there is good or bad.

Hattie is very well portrayed as are the other characters. Adam is three-dimensional, not merely a foil against which the other characters discover their true feelings. Adults, however, need to be aware of the issues presented in the book and be ready to discuss them.

(less)

like · see review

May 07, 2012 Alicia Gomez rated it 5 of 5 stars

Have you ever wondered how it feels to be left out? Or how it feels to be bullied everyday of your life? Well for Adam that was a normal everyday thing. He was an adult, but his mentality was as a kid. He was a mentally challenged adult, but he couldn't help who he is. A very special person in his life was Hattie Owen. That was his cousin. Adam and Hattie had a tremendous relationship. It was too bad that Hattie never knew her cousin until later in life. Hattie was a very shy and very mischievou...more

like · see review

Apr 15, 2012 Kayla added it

Shelves: 12th-grade, advisory, third-quarter

A Corner of the Universe
by Ann M. Martin
Paperback, 224 pages
Published June 1st 2005 by Scholastic Inc. (first published October 1st 2002)
ISBN 0439771242

"My father's movies are great, but they don't begin to tell the story of the summer. What's left out is more important than what is there. Dad captured the good times, only the good times. The parts he left out are what changed my life." Sometimes the people who mean the most to us are the ones that come into our lives unexpectedly. Hattie Owen k...more A Corner of the Universe
by Ann M. Martin
Paperback, 224 pages
Published June 1st 2005 by Scholastic Inc. (first published October 1st 2002)
ISBN 0439771242

"My father's movies are great, but they don't begin to tell the story of the summer. What's left out is more important than what is there. Dad captured the good times, only the good times. The parts he left out are what changed my life." Sometimes the people who mean the most to us are the ones that come into our lives unexpectedly. Hattie Owen knows this really well.

The summer of 1960, eleven (soon to be twelve) year old Hattie meets Adam, the uncle everyone seems to keep quiet about. She has never met him but is on a crash course towards learning to deal with someone who isn't as easily dealt with as she thought he'd be. Twenty one year old Adam is being forced to live at home with his parents, who are Hattie's grandparents, because his special school in Chicago closes down. Most of the family don't easily accept who Adam is and can't deal with the way he is. A perfect example of this is on page 42. "Nana is watching him too. Eventually she says, 'Adam, what did we talk about this afternoon?Slow down, please.'" His mother and father can't deal with the strange habits their child has or the fact that he isn't as mature as most 21 year olds. Hattie on the other hand easily befriends him and finds herself more curious than appalled at her uncle.

This book has been compared to Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie and I really saw that in this book because of how there's this melancholy and calming feeling through some of the book. In elementary school when I was in the 4th grade, we read Because of Winn-Dixie as a class and I noticed that it was similar that although the texts themselves are fairly simple there's so much more meaning to them. In this book I found that the fact that the family almost tried to hide Adam was something that anyone at any age can read about and connect to on some level. Although we may not have a person we are ashamed of, there's always something that we look down upon. I thought that it was interesting how Adam passes away. That his love for Angel Valentine is much more straightforward and obvious than any of his family's love for him. Yes, they probably love him more than anything and acted completely because of that but no one shows acceptance the way he just openly loves Angel.

I would recommend this book to anyone because it's a really easy read but it's also a page turner. I liked how it was set in 1960 because it also gives a different time period to think about. Would people treat Adam the way his family did? Would they know exactly what kind of mental illness he had? The book didn't mention it but how come he wasn't put in another school instead of being sent home? I think that if you're bored and want something you can read in an hour or two, this book is great for that.(less)

like · see review

Oct 16, 2011 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars

A Corner of the Unvierse moved me. It's set in the 1960s from the perspective of 12-year-old Hattie Owen. The introduction is especially good, I think, as it made me feel for poor Hattie and her loss.

While my Uncle and Aunt were not hidden from me in my childhood, I didn't know something was wrong with until my late teens. On that side of the family I have three Uncles and two Aunts; plus a history of divorce. I will refer to them as my Uncle J and my Aunt B. They both had bipolar disorder that...more

like · see review

Oct 06, 2011 Danielle Kern rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-lit-2011

Martin, Ann. The Corner of the Universe. Scholastic Inc.: 2002. 189pp. ISBN: 0-439-38881-3

Genre: Young Adult, Fiction,
Rating: ****: It is the summer of 1960 in the small Midwestern town of Millerton. Hattie is about to turn 12 years old and enjoying a non eventful summer living in her family boarding house. Then an unexpected visitor shows up, her Uncle Adam whom she didn’t know existed. This sweet touching story teaches us acceptance, and that we all own a little corner of the universe. Adam h...more Martin, Ann. The Corner of the Universe. Scholastic Inc.: 2002. 189pp. ISBN: 0-439-38881-3

Genre: Young Adult, Fiction,
Rating: ****: It is the summer of 1960 in the small Midwestern town of Millerton. Hattie is about to turn 12 years old and enjoying a non eventful summer living in her family boarding house. Then an unexpected visitor shows up, her Uncle Adam whom she didn’t know existed. This sweet touching story teaches us acceptance, and that we all own a little corner of the universe. Adam has a great impact on Hattie and in the end shows her the courage to lift the corners of her own universe.

Summary: Hattie Owen feels at times like she doesn’t belong anywhere in the world. She feels more comfortable hanging around the adults that live in her family boarding house than with peers her own age. Her only friend has left for the summer. Just when she is settling into her summer routine of reading books and going for walks, her Uncle Adam shows up. What is interesting in that she never knew that she had an uncle. Hattie finds out that her mother’s brother has been living in a “school home” since he was 12. Doctors could never come up with a diagnosis for Adam, many thought he was schizophrenic or autistic. Hattie loves spending time with her Uncle. When she confides in her uncle he explains in his unique way that everyone has a little corner in the universe. One might have thought that Adam was sent away because he didn’t fit into his mother perfect life as Millerton’s most prestigious family. Hattie wants to set Adam free, but learns in a very traumatic way that Adam does need to be safe in a special home. The family looses Adam forever and together they realize what special gifts Adam gave to each of them.

Main characters:
Hattie: A smart and sensitive girl who relates better to adults then peers her own age. She is the kind of person who is satisfied with one best friend and hanging out with her dad. Her grandparents are the town’s most affluent couple, but Hattie wants nothing to do with her grandmother’s lifestyle.
Adam: He knows that he is different from everyone else and sometimes that is overwhelming to him. He feels and expresses every emotion which he is often unable to control. He love the I Love Lucy show, and repeats quotes constantly.

Key Issues: Mental illness, acceptance, rebellion, suicide.

Other interesting information: Ann Martin found out when she was a young girl that she had a mentally ill uncle. Unlike Hattie she never met him. Many of the details are real however she knew very little about her uncle so the character of Adam is completely imaginary.
(less)

like · see review

Jul 16, 2011 Sydney rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hattie Owen is a 12 year old girl living in the 1960's in a boarding house full of quirky people. A man who's cranky & obsessed with clockwords. A young adult who's as pretty as a rose. An elderly woman who loves making Hattie dresses, and constantly is sewing. Not to mention, Hattie's parents are hiding a secret from her: she has an Uncle Adam she's never met. Anyyway, Hattie has no friends in town, and 2 snobby girls don't help anything. Eventually, when she meets Adam- who has mental issu...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 17, 2011 سمية عبد العزيز rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

it was very touching novel.

تقع أحداث الرواية في الستينات, في بلدة صغيرة "تعرف كيف تتأنق" كما تقول هاتي. وهي شخصية الرواية التي تسلط الكاتبة نظر ثاقبة على حياتها ذات الإحدى عشر عاماً فقط.

هاتي طفلة رزينة, تفكر قبل أن تفعل, تقرأ الكتب, ولا تصادق من هم في عمرها إلا قليلاً, راضية بحياتها البسيطة, ولا تود إستبدالها بشيء آخر, تحدث لها مواقف جديدة في حياتها بسبب الوافد الجديد إلى عائلتهم.

قد يبدوا أنها رواية للصغار أو المراهقين مثلاً, لكني لا أظن ذلك, فالرواية ببساطتها تعطيك فكرة عن عالم الأطفال في تلك...more

like · see review

Jan 05, 2011 Kristi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, newbery

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

Dec 08, 2010 Brenna Reese rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this book; it really sucked me into the story, I was able to read it cover to cover in two hours! This is the story of a shy, twelve year old girl named, Hattie, who lives with her parents as an only child in a boarding house in which her family owns. She spends her normal summers hanging out with family at home because her only friend, Betsy, has gone on vacation for the summer. She finds out her twenty-one year old uncle, Adam, whom she's never heard of before is coming to...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 07, 2010 Connie rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Ann M. Martin has written, to my knowledge, three books now involving autistic characters - a stand-alone novel in the 80s, that BSC book, and now this one.

I like to be complete, so I thought I'd check this one out and compare it against my memories of the others. This review WILL contain spoilers, I'm sorry, because there are a few issues I have with the book at the end.

First, you should note that Adam's characterization clearly reflects increased knowledge of autism. This is as it should be -...more

1 like · like · see review

Lisa I just want to address anyone that may be looking at reviews debating whether to read this book: I had a completely different experience and subsequen...more
Dec 04, 2011 06:34pm

Connie I *am* autistic. I do not appreciate being told to speak in an artificial way because some people are too stupid to realize that autistic individuals...more
Dec 05, 2011 08:00am

Lisa I apologize if I have offended you; that was never my intent. I respectfully remove myself from any further discussion on this topic.

Have a good day,...more
Dec 05, 2011 09:29am

Sep 28, 2010 Alexis J. rated it 5 of 5 stars

The main character in this story is Hattie,she is a 12 year old girl who gives Mrs.Hagerty her breakfast,and who figures out she has an uncle named Adam.I thought the book was excellent because the author put the events in this story in the place they should be in.I also thought the book was written very commodity by the author.I was surprised when Hattie figured out she had an uncle named Adam that was mental,that she had seen when she was young like about 2 years old in her birthday party.I di...more

like · see review

Apr 17, 2010 Briana Gavin rated it 5 of 5 stars

The summer of 1960 in the town of Millerton, the summer of Hattie Owen's 12th birthday, taught her some important lessons about life. That summer Hattie learned about pure unselfconscious innocence, about intolerance and about tragic results that can't always be anticipated. These lessons were learned because of three initially unrelated events: the arrival of a new boarder at Hattie's parent's boarding house just before the summer began, the arrival of 'Fred Carmel's Funtime Carnival' and the a...more

like · see review

Mar 14, 2010 Hannah bubana S.713 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 7th-grade

I really loved this book... I suppose the ending was a little too expected but it was still done in a way that made it good. I'm going to try to remember what happened because I read this a while ago.
The family was well thought out and more realistic than most authors portray them to be in that time period. I could really connect to the issues her family has with her Nana... her Nan nagging all the time and expecting everyone to act a certain way.
And of course there's Adam. He's a typical men...more

like · see review

Feb 10, 2010 Anniesa rated it 5 of 5 stars

A Corner Of The Universe was an excellent book that makes you greatful for your life and the condition that come with it. This book is about Hattie Owen who is alone for the summer with nothing to do much like all of her previous summers. She figures out one day that she has another uncle that she has never heard of. He has been away at a special school all her life and because it is closing he has to live with Hattie's grandmother and grandfather, his mother and father. He is twenty one years...more

like · see review

Oct 12, 2009 Alexa SOF2014 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: grade-8-ir-books-betts

The summer of Hattie Owen's 12th birthday she met an uncle that she never knew she had. His name is Adam and he's no ordinary uncle. Other then him one day showing up at her house she finds out that he has a disease where he is not able to function as easily as an adult. To Hattie, Adam was more like the younger brother she never had! He was spontaneous, fun, and purely innocent. The kids in their community considered him a “freak,”. Adam was clearly was not a very welcome visitor that had to be...more The summer of Hattie Owen's 12th birthday she met an uncle that she never knew she had. His name is Adam and he's no ordinary uncle. Other then him one day showing up at her house she finds out that he has a disease where he is not able to function as easily as an adult. To Hattie, Adam was more like the younger brother she never had! He was spontaneous, fun, and purely innocent. The kids in their community considered him a “freak,”. Adam was clearly was not a very welcome visitor that had to be tolerated. Hattie decided that because of these comments she would be Adams friend for his temporary life in Millerton. Hattie's family owns a boarding house and the newest resident of it is a woman named Angel Valentine. The second Adam laid eyes on her, he fell in love but Angel was totally oblivious to the fact that he is. He was able to accept his parents continual overreactions to his misadventures and he was able to overcome the sting of the insults of the adults and children of the town, but his fantasy of a relationship with Angel was shattered. His "relationship" with Angel was the one key to normality and acceptance but he realized that they were well beyond his reach.

Text to World: I can relate to how Hattie feels because my uncle is mentally retarded. I don't see him very often but we always call to see if he is doing well. Even though he is in his 50's we still like and talk about the same things. Such as what TV shows we watch and foods we like. Hattie never felt obligated to spend time with Adam, which shows that she has real maturity. Whenever I call my uncle I don't feel obligated to either. I call because I want to and it feels like you did something right.

I really enjoyed reading "A Corner Of The Universe" by Ann M. Martin. Hattie was one of my favorite characters because she showed such maturity towards Adam. She was not afraid of what other people would think of her if she spent time with him. This book was a very emotional novel it was beautifully written. I think that this would appeal to everyone because it keeps you captivated and the author instantly sucks you into the story. (less)

like · see review

Oct 11, 2009 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: classroom-library, middle-grade

This novel, set in the 1950s, portrays a young girl named Hattie who has a summer that is eventful in ways she never could have predicted. Her best (and only) friend goes on a family vacation to Maine, and Hattie is left up to her own devices for entertainment. She usually likes keeping herself busy by helping her dad with his art projects, or by reading scores of books that she takes out from the library, but this summer Hattie is intrigued by the carnival that has been set up on the outskirts...more

like · see review

Sep 08, 2009 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: summer-reading-2009

A Corner Of The Universe is about a eleven year old girl named Hattie whose summer had just started along with new surprises: Adam, her uncle thats she never even seen or heard from. Her family is partly embarrassed of him because of his mental disablilty. Hattie overlooks his disability and becomes friends with Adam when a carnival comes into town. Hattie's new friend at the Carnival and Adam throw her a birthday but when Adam gets on the Ferris Wheel, her uncle is lost and Adam's mental side i...more

like · see review

Aug 26, 2009 Jan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book. For teen to adult it is a 5-star book. But this book was marketed for youth aged 12 and up, and there is such a heart-wrenching event at the end of the book that I could not recommend a child to read it.

Hattie lives in a small town where live goes on in predictable patterns every day -- until her uncle arrives. No one has ever talked about Adam, who is now in his 20s. He has been kept in an institution because of his bizarre behavior, and Hattie finds herself alternately amuse...more

like · see review

Apr 07, 2009 Ezra rated it 3 of 5 stars

This novel was about Hattie Owen who must learn to cope with the fact that her uncle Adam, is literally retarded. We see that the family of Hattie tries to deny his existense but the power Adam has on the family allows the exact opposite to occur. I belive that this book was so great because the events were full of drama and out of the blue. No one wants to read a book that proves you right,so read this one. The author Ann M. Martin does a great job of hiding the discomfort and unrest in the who...more

like · see review

Oct 25, 2011 Sarah Johnson rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It really relates to the feelings of having someone in your family with autism; and how they complete specific tasks. When you make a person with autism really happy, and feel welcome, the outcome is really spectacular. All they really want in their life is a friend and this book pretty much shows you how to get though to them. The perspective that Ann M. Martin writes from makes it feel like your going through this with her. It gets emotional and really triggers you...more

like · see review

Jul 05, 2010 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: disability-illness, girl-main-character, historical, realistic-fiction, tween, teen

As a child who devoured the Baby-Sitters Club, I was a little wary of Ann M. Martin outside of her crowning achievement (as I would have thought at 11). But I really enjoyed A Corner of the Universe. I thought she did a nice job of conveying Hattie's uncertainty about her mentally disturbed uncle Adam - sometimes she was frightened of him, sometimes she was embarrassed by him, but she always stood by him. I think a lot of people (myself included) are somewhat unsure when confronted by an unusual...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
A Corner of the Universe	8	41	Jan 05, 2013 07:18pm
Can Hattie deal with change in her life?	4	19	Nov 19, 2012 03:13pm
How did you like it?	5	25	Jun 30, 2012 11:32am

combine
Other Editions (14)

More editions...

Genres

Young Adult

93 users

Realistic Fiction

59 users

Historical Fiction

41 users

Childrens

20 users

Childrens > Middle Grade

19 users

Young Adult > Teen

15 users

Contemporary

13 users

Family

13 users

Childrens > Juvenile

11 users

Childrens > Chapter Books

10 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Ann M. Martin

Ann Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.

Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood me...more

More about Ann M. Martin...

Books by Ann M. Martin

Kristy's Great Idea (The Baby-Sitters Club, #1)

A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray

The Truth About Stacey (The Baby-Sitters Club, #3)

Baby-Sitters Club Boxed Set #1 (The Baby-Sitters Club, #1-4)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About A Corner of the U...

1 trivia question
2 quizzes

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from A Corner of the Universe

“For now, I just want things all safe and familiar. My life may not be perfect, but it is what I have known.” — 33 people liked it

“I pick at what's left of the popcorn and think about the summer, the summer that was both awful and wonderful. I thank Adam, as I have thanked him almost every night since August, for showing me that it's possible to lift the corners of our universe. Adam told me about lifting the corners the second time I met him, but I had no idea what he meant. Now I think I do. It's all about changing what's handed to you, about poking around a little, lifting the corners, seeing what's underneath, poking that. Somethings things work out, sometimes they don't, but at least you're exploring. And life is always more interesting that way.” — 17 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: A Corner of the Universe
avg rating	preview: A Corner of the Universe Goodreads rating: 4.01 (6442 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/65070.A_Corner_of_the_Universe?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328867073l/65070.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/65070.A_Corner_of_the_Universe?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin[/url]

A Corner of the Universe

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website