After her brother, sister, and father die in a plane crash, Daralynn Oakland receives 237 dolls from well-wishers, resulting in her nickname: D... read full description
reviews
Feb 10, 2011
babyhippoface
rated it: 
This is, by far, my favorite Kate Klise book. I really, really liked it. I was hooked by the first four sentences. Let me show you what I saw....
Opening sentence: "I'm alive today because I was grounded."
Fourth sentence: "That's the only reason I wasn't in Daddy's plane when it crashed and killed him, my brother, and my little sister."
And the two sentences in between aren't bad, either.
With most of her family suddenly gone, Daralynn is left with her mother, who seems to be getting angrier day More...
Opening sentence: "I'm alive today because I was grounded."
Fourth sentence: "That's the only reason I wasn't in Daddy's plane when it crashed and killed him, my brother, and my little sister."
And the two sentences in between aren't bad, either.
With most of her family suddenly gone, Daralynn is left with her mother, who seems to be getting angrier day More...
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Jan 31, 2012
Leslie
rated it: 
Sometimes it pays to misbehave. Or does it? Daralynn is grounded the day her daddy goes up in his air-o-plane with her older brother and younger sister. Now after their deaths, she is still left behind with her motion-sick mother and the small community of Digginsville in the Missouri Ozarks (of the 1970s). As Daralynn sorts out the differences between Before the Crash (BC) and After the Deaths (AD), she learns what it means to be grounded in every aspect of the word.
Grounded, as a nov More...
Grounded, as a nov More...
Sep 29, 2011
"I'm alive today because I was grounded," narrates Daralynn, 12, whose father, brother, and sister have just died in a plane crash. She would have gone with them, but had to stay home as punishment for going fishing without telling her mother. True, she's still alive - but now she has to deal with the grief of losing most of her family. Well-meaning friends and neighbors try to do her a kindness by giving her dolls, which pile up until she has 237 and earns her the nickname "Do
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Jul 31, 2011
Mary
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Twelve-year-old Daralynn Oakland was grounded for going out alone fishing in their Ozark town of Digginsville, Missouri, so she wasn't on the plane that crashed and killed her dad, brother, and sister. Now it's just her and her mom struggling with their loss. The 237 dolls that people have given her don't really help her much, and even worse, she's getting called Dolly because of them, which she hates, as would any self-respecting tomboy. Her new nickname isn't the only change, of course. Her mo
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Jul 04, 2011
Nancee
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"I'm alive today because I was grounded." So starts 12-year-old Daralynn's story of why she remains alive after her father, sister and brother were killed when a plane piloted by her father crashed. The loss has transformed her mother into a bitter, angry woman who begins her own business as a hair stylist for the local funeral home after everyone admires the wonderful job she's done on her children and husband for their funerals. When Mr. Clem, a stranger with plans to build a crem
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Jun 26, 2011
Lauren
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Who would ever guess that a story about a young girl losing her father, brother and sister to a horrible plane crash could be so full of laughs? Yes, Grounded explores the aftermath of a horrible loss, but by its end, you realize that it is not really a story about death. It's a story about what it means to be alive. It's about the people who are left behind when tragedy strikes (Daralynn and her mother, in this case) and how they have to drag themselves up and back into life no matter how much
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Jan 31, 2011
Becky
rated it:
Ages 9-12. Daralynn divides her life between B.C. (before the crash) and A.D. (after the deaths), after her father, brother and sister are killed in an airplane crash. Now it's just her and her mother, and her mother has turned to stone. The only way she can pay the bills is to style the hair of the corpses at the funeral home. But when Clem Monroe breezes into town, bringing a crematorium to Digginsville, it threatens her mother's livelihood. Daralynn dreams up the "living funeral", w
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Jan 25, 2011
Stacy
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Grounded was a good story: full of a lot of heartache and humor (both at the same time). I liked what caused the author to write this story--walking into a hair dresser's salon, which was similar to the very story itself. (From the acknowledgments at the end): "I would never had written this book if I hadn't wandered into Debi Gasperson Baird's hair salon in Mountain Gove, Missouri, almost twenty years ago. There I met a woman who can tell a better story while shampooing hair than I coul
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Jan 05, 2011
Beth
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Daralynn Oakland should have been in her father's plane that day. Instead, she was sitting at home, grounded by her mother, when a state trooper arrived to tell them that the plane's engine failed, and that Daralynn's father, older brother, and younger sister died in the crash. After that, nothing can be the same. Her homemaker mother stops cooking meals and takes a job preparing bodies at the local funeral home. Her grandmother loses interest in anything except playing with the 237 dolls well-w
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Feb 23, 2011
Lauren
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Daralynn Oakland is alive because she was grounded. She lied to her mom about sneaking down to the fishing hole, so she wasn't allowed to fly away on vacation with her dad, sister, and brother. Tragically, these three die in a plane crash. Left alone with her one child and no husband, Daralynn's mother flounders in a numb depression. After she prepares her family for burial, Mrs. Oakland discovers she has a knack for hairstyling and eventually buys her own salon. Daralynn also comes up with the
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May 27, 2011
Ariel
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I must admit that I only added this book to my pile at the library because the cover caught my eye. Once I got it home, though, I moved it to the top of the stack because the premise sounded so interesting.
Now that I'm done, I have that today I have to put a check in the "impulse book decisions" column. This book was excellent! Despite the somewhat macabre subject matter, the story never felt heavy handed or overly depressing. There was just the right amount of humor More...
Now that I'm done, I have that today I have to put a check in the "impulse book decisions" column. This book was excellent! Despite the somewhat macabre subject matter, the story never felt heavy handed or overly depressing. There was just the right amount of humor More...
Aug 17, 2011
Grace
rated it:
Darralynn Oakland is grounded for fishing at doc lake without her mother's permission,
when one day her father wayne, her sister lilac rose, and her brother wayne junior, take a ride on her fathers airplane. later that day, Darralynn and her mother recieve word that wayne, wayne junior, and lilac rose are dead.
after that, darralynn gets 237 dolls from well wishers, resulting in her nickname Dolly, but Darralynn hates dolls, she would much rather be fishing at doc lake than sitting arou More...
when one day her father wayne, her sister lilac rose, and her brother wayne junior, take a ride on her fathers airplane. later that day, Darralynn and her mother recieve word that wayne, wayne junior, and lilac rose are dead.
after that, darralynn gets 237 dolls from well wishers, resulting in her nickname Dolly, but Darralynn hates dolls, she would much rather be fishing at doc lake than sitting arou More...
Sep 18, 2011
Jane
rated it:
This is a book for the middle schoolers 4th-7th grade.
From reading the book jacket I was intrigued. A girl that was grounded has to stay home with her mother while the rest of the family: her sister, father and brother go off in their father’s airplane. The plane crashes. They all die. She is alive only because she was grounded. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book after I started reading it though. It is not clear in the beginning what year it is- a quirky something that I More...
From reading the book jacket I was intrigued. A girl that was grounded has to stay home with her mother while the rest of the family: her sister, father and brother go off in their father’s airplane. The plane crashes. They all die. She is alive only because she was grounded. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book after I started reading it though. It is not clear in the beginning what year it is- a quirky something that I More...
Feb 20, 2011
Bdalton
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There are so many sad children's books. In the case of this story, it's like the author said, let me take the sadness of a typical sad children's book with a dead dog or a dead mom or dad and triple it. When her father, older brother, and young sister died in a plane crash, Daralynn was at home, grounded for having been out fishing without her parents' permission. Her mother opens a beauty salon in their small Missouri town and also prepares the hair of the deceased at the local funeral home.
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Feb 18, 2011
Reader
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Fishing saved 12-year old Daralynn's life: she was grounded and at home with her mother when the plane carrying her father, sister, and brother crashed and killed all passengers. Now, she's helping out at her mother's hair salon, washing the hair of both living customers and the funeral home customers alike. When Clem comes to town and opens a crematorium, Daralynn worries over the future of the family business, the loss of her favorite aunt, and the sense of unease she has from Clem himself.
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Jun 30, 2011
Phoebe
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Daralynn disobeys her mother and goes fishing on the day her father, brother, and sister are killed in a plane crash. If she hadn't disobeyed, she'd have been dead too. She struggles with this concept virtually on her own, since her mother grows more and more angry with the world as the ensuing months go by, and her grandmother plays with the dolls Daralynn was given after the accident. Fortunately there is Aunt Josie, the only stable adult in her life. And there are the letters Daralynn wri
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Mar 14, 2011
Sarah
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Daralynn's father, brother and sister all died in a plane crash. Daralynn now lives with her mother, who operates a beauty salon. Her mom is suffering from depression from the loss of her family members, and Daralynn is unsure how to deal with her own grief. Together, they work together to build the beauty salon business, and her mom brings in extra income by doing hair at the local funeral home. An odd man named Clem opens the town's first crematorium, threatening the beauty salon's survival
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Mar 31, 2011
Mark
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I enjoyed the premise and the emotional content. Some of the storylines weren't original enough for me, but that doesn't mean they weren't good. I'm getting pickier. I kind of wish I hadn't read so many kid novels because I think it would have struck me as great long ago. I want to use this one for it's balance of emo and story structure. It's my fave kind of read. Favorite character was likely the mother. I like cranky people who have hidden reasons for being cranky. They make you look
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Jan 27, 2011
Bev
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Kate Klise's sense of humor shines through in this quirky story about a girl whose father, brother and sister die in a plane crash. Twelve-year-old Daralynn is left to cope with the tragedy; her mother is angry and bitter, and her senile grandmother plays with dolls most of the time. It all sounds pretty grim, but the combination of Daralynn's plucky nature, the charm of her hometown and the odd mixture of lovable characters makes for an engaging tale. It is unfortunate that there are a few m
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Oct 16, 2011
Charlou
rated it:
Great first line: I'm alive today because I was grounded. Daralynn, 12, was grounded the day her father took her brother and sister up in his plane and it crashed, killing all of them. Her mother's grief turns to anger and she starts a new business as a hair stylist and her main client is the local funeral parlor. Her grandmother is becoming senile. Her aunt is the flashy owner of a gentleman's retirement home. Klise manages the right amount of humor blended with heartwarming as they all learn t
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Mar 30, 2011
Elena
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i really like this book but it is very sad at the begining but the main character is daralynn and she does not seem sad at all considering what happened and her mom seems not to work but now she opens a little shop and she does dead peoples hair and now she has worked with daralynn aka:her daughter and now they together own a small hairdew place and now they are starting to figure out a very strange man comes to town and daralynns aunt josie falls in love and swears she will marry him but when d
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Dec 10, 2011
Dolores
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How do you deal with almost overwhelming grief--when nearly your entire family has been killed and the only reason you are still alive is your own disobedience? When you feel that the only emotion your mother has room for now is anger, and that she wishes you were not the one left behind? When you feel as though nothing is real and you are floating above it all? What will keep you grounded? This is a terrific coming of age story about a family coming to terms with tragedy and finding their way i
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Jan 26, 2011
Donna
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Ok. Dolly (Daralynn) Oakland's father, sister, and brother die in plane crash. Mother is angry and bitter at the world. Takes some solice in doing hair for local funeral home and buys a hair salon. Aunt Josie (Dolly's favorite, and hated by Mom) gets duped by Clem who starts a crematorium - collects money from people and skips town. Dolly suspects something's off from first hearing of him. She finds that Clem is throwing people in the lake where she is fishing. Predictable to me, but a kid
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Oct 04, 2011
Madeleineshs12
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I found that this book was an attempt by a funny author to shift to a more serious tone. The concept was good, and some of the old aspects of her books were there, but a number of the sentences felt awkward. The odd thing about the entire story was that it was a strange mix of lighthearted comedy and serious tragedies. It started off with a plane crash. A family of five is reduced to two: the middle child (a daughter) and the mother. The girl struggles to cope with the loss of her family me
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Feb 21, 2011
For a girl who never liked dolls, Daralynn sure had a lot of them. She had gotten over 200 dolls after her father, brother and sister were killed in a plane crash. She had also gotten her nickname, Dolly, because of them. Dolly lived with her mother and next door to her grandmother. After the funeral for her family, Dolly’s mother became the hairdresser for the local funeral home. Later, she branched out to owning her own salon and doing hair on the living. It was Dolly who had the big id
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Jan 26, 2011
Alavare
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Kate Klise did a really nice job on this book which deals with the themes of loss and grieving while keeping the story readable and engaging. The characters were well-developed; the mother who used anger to avoid the pain, etc. Although the manipulative, "snake oil" salesman was a bit obvious, he provided an interesting subplot that Klise used to bring the story to a nice conclusion. I'd recommend this book to 4th-6th graders who already read a variety of books and can handle a thought
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Feb 03, 2011
Kim
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This is my favorite of all Kate Klise's books so far! Daralynn's father, sister and brother are killed in a plane crash that she would have been on if she had not been grounded. She and her mother are left behind in their small town to start their life without the rest of their family. Mom starts working on hair at the funeral home, which leads to a new job at the local beauty shop. While Mom is wrapped up in the loss of her family, Daralynn struggles to understand the changes that have happ
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Jul 04, 2011
Judy
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This book is about death and dealing with a horrible tragedy, a complicated concept for children, but by the end of the story you find out it's also about family and living life. I think the character Daralynn is charming. Her feelings and thoughts are believable for a child her age dealing with the things she's had to deal with. The book has humor that will make you laugh and at times you will cry, but it had me hooked from the very beginning. I like this author and I really, REALLY liked th
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Dec 19, 2010
Dana
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I thought this was a really sweet book about how death can change everything in an instant. Set in a small town during the 70's the story is told by twelve year old Daralynn who has recently lost her father, sister, and brother in a plane crash. The story deals with life after tragedy along with the business side of death and funerals. While very sad it is also funny at times and hopeful. To top it all off a charming stranger comes to town and further changes the lives of Daralynn and her fa
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Nov 30, 2011
Vicki
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Another great, pleasurable read with a wonderful main female character Daralyn/Dolly. When she is grounded and left behind from a plane ride with her pilot father, older brother & younger sister, she is so mad. Life takes a strange move when the plane crashes and all are killed. Dolly and her mom don't cry and show little emotion. This book deals with life in a small town, Clem Monroe, the crematorium owner who pulls the wool over everyone's eyes. Great, quick read.
