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38th out of 89 books
—
76 voters
Jip: His Story
While living on a Vermont poor farm during 1855 and 1856, Jip learns his identity and that of his mother and comes to understand how he arrived at this place.
Paperback, 192 pages
Published
June 2nd 2005
by Puffin
(first published October 1st 1996)
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Jip is a story of the evilness of slavery, of poverty, of classism, of hope and the wonderful commitment to safety via the underground railroad. Jip (so named because allegedly as a baby, he fell off a wagon while traveling with gypsies), lives and works on a poor farm, uneducated and mistreated, still his love of others shines through.
When an older man deemed a lunatic is sent to live on the farm, Jip soon befriends him and looks upon him as a father he never had. When an untrustworthy man come...more
When an older man deemed a lunatic is sent to live on the farm, Jip soon befriends him and looks upon him as a father he never had. When an untrustworthy man come...more
Jip is an interesting character. An orphan, as the book opens, Jip works hard on the poor farm, thinks he cannot learn, and makes the most out of his life. He appreciates the friendships he has with other poor farm folk, and feels proud about his special ability to work with the animals of the farm. But he does wonder why no one came to get him after he fell off the cart that left him where the poor farm people found him when he was a baby. They have called him Jip because they assume his folk m...more
Jip doesn’t know his real name or who his parents are at the poor farm he lives on in Vermont in the 1850’s. When he is sent to school, he is read Oliver Twist and his teacher loans him Uncle Tom's Cabin, but it’s some slave catchers who identify who he is. And it is his Teacher, (view spoiler) and his and her friends who get him away to Canada. I enjoyed this, though the copy I read has...more
Like Suzanne Collins' Gregor the Overlander series, this book was difficult to read aloud because I was crying so hard at the end. Someone recently told me that historical fiction has been criticized as not helpful in teaching history and I cannot disagree more vehemently. A story like this, which moves the reader to tears, can't help but impress on that reader and when the subject is historical, all the better. I can't understand why it wasn't this book of Paterson's that won the Newbery as it'...more
jip is a boy who fell off a, so called gypsey wagon when he was a baby. he has moved between houses, and farms for his whole life as a worker boy. finally he returns back to the poor farm, the closest thing to home for him. he has his freinds there, sheldon, and all the animals on the farm.
review#2 i have now finished this book, and i really liked it. it can be pretty sad though, and really confusing, you kust have to keep reading, and they re-tell most of the confusing parts so in the end it is...more
review#2 i have now finished this book, and i really liked it. it can be pretty sad though, and really confusing, you kust have to keep reading, and they re-tell most of the confusing parts so in the end it is...more
So far this book has been pretty good. I was a little confused in the beginning when old Bertha is talking to him because it kind of just jumps in to the book without explaining anything. One thing that i am wondering about right now is why the overseer chose Shelden to go in stead of Jip. I like the part when the family comes to live with Jip's overseer because it makes jip really happy. I was not sure this book was going to be good because of the cover picture and the title, but this book is r...more
Kind of a latter day Uncle Tom's Cabin for the 'my pretty pony" set.
This childrens story starts out well enough but gets progressively more juvenile as it goes along. The sentiments are all great but the final few chapters don't seem to have been written with as much care as the earlier story. Either that or I'd reached my limit.
Of course this is a childrens story, but many of those that I've read work on several levels. This one really doesn't. While it brings up a number of issues that the 8...more
This childrens story starts out well enough but gets progressively more juvenile as it goes along. The sentiments are all great but the final few chapters don't seem to have been written with as much care as the earlier story. Either that or I'd reached my limit.
Of course this is a childrens story, but many of those that I've read work on several levels. This one really doesn't. While it brings up a number of issues that the 8...more
This book Jip, is about a boy who story goes that he fell off a gypsy wagon which is his namesake. He has a friend named Sheldon and later a lunatic is housed at the poor farm with no self control at times. Then Sheldon dies in a working accident and he's left with the lunatic. Soon he's found out how smart the lunatic is than he is given credit for. Then a stranger comes with the mystery of Jip's real birth mother/father and he has to discover how he came to be with his friend.
I can connect to...more
I can connect to...more
I quite enjoyed this book. I read it in a very short time. It can kind of suck you in to Jip's world. Because I hadn't really studied the cover and realized it was a night scene of a road and not a seaside like I thought at first glance, I was a little curious as to when he was going to make it out to sea for a portion of the book. Then I realized it...I really liked the characters, their diversity, Jip's gradual introspection and growth as a character. I'm glad I read it.
I agree with my sister who called this book "an exquisite little gem of historical fiction." I read it first and recommended it to her, but she beat me to reviewing it. Wendy, you always have been good at turning a phrase. :) Anyway, this story is set in pre-Civil War New England. The protagonist is a likeable boy who was a foundling. He lives on the town poor farm with an assortment of odd characters and animals. Then one day a sinister stranger comes to town and seems to take an unusual intere...more
Growing up on a poor farm, Jip has always believed he fell off a gypsy wagon as a small child and could never understand why nobody tried to find him. The appearance of a persistent stranger holds the promise for an answer, but Jip doesn't trust the man.
This book was recommended to me by a colleague as a great boy's story. It was a wonderful read.
This book was recommended to me by a colleague as a great boy's story. It was a wonderful read.
Reading level 5.5
Story about a boy who is put at a poor farm and how he makes a life for himself there, then a stranger comes to town trying to tell him that Jip's father wants him back, and how he tries to figure it out for himself. The book is set in the 1850's. Very interesting book on life in early America.
Story about a boy who is put at a poor farm and how he makes a life for himself there, then a stranger comes to town trying to tell him that Jip's father wants him back, and how he tries to figure it out for himself. The book is set in the 1850's. Very interesting book on life in early America.
I always love Katherine Paterson. I'm not sure why I didn't read this one sooner, but it was a well-researched, well-written historical novel. I loved that the character of Put, the insane man who was kept in a cage on a poor farm, was based on a real historical figure. An interesting read.
I thought that this was a very good book. The only thing I didn't care for was that sometimes it took me a while to figure out what the characters were saying. This book has some twists. some parts of it were sad. Other then that i thought that it was a good read.
Feb 20, 2008
Mary
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
historical fiction lovers, older (mature) kids
I've been on a Katherine Patterson kick these last few weeks/months. She has yet to really dissapoint me. I've come to the conclusion that most of her books (what I've read at least) deal with children coming to terms with reality, or who undergo some dramatic change in their thought process during the course of the novel.
Jip is no different. I liked the twist at the end, and as usual I teared up at least once. I thought it was interesting how she worked the climax into the character's story an...more
Jip is no different. I liked the twist at the end, and as usual I teared up at least once. I thought it was interesting how she worked the climax into the character's story an...more
Mar 02, 2009
Art
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in Fugitive Law/Orphans/life in 1850's
Recommended to Art by:
Ms. Bush, Scott Middle School libririan
Shelves:
african-american
Ms. Patterson does a great job writing about life of an orphan in the 1850;s sent to the poor farm kept by the townspeople of Vermont.
Interesting story of love for animals, people who are different and the discovery of oneself.
Interesting story of love for animals, people who are different and the discovery of oneself.
Setting
Theme
Character traits
Love the quote about stories p.93- came to need them, expect them, crave them
Losing Sheldon, Wilkenses & Put
Mrs. Wilkenses rx when learn Jip slave
Why did Teacher & Quakers know, but one else figure it out?
Theme
Character traits
Love the quote about stories p.93- came to need them, expect them, crave them
Losing Sheldon, Wilkenses & Put
Mrs. Wilkenses rx when learn Jip slave
Why did Teacher & Quakers know, but one else figure it out?
Jip, a young boy who lives on the poor farm has no knowledge of his family or any clue about where he came from other than the oft-told story that he fell off the back of a gypsy wagon when he was three years old. Then one day a peculiar stranger comes to town and starts poking around and asking about Jip's history.
This book does not have a good beginning. It took me a solid three chapters to get totally into it, but once I was in, I was hooked. There are so many themes in Jip, I wanted to stop...more
This book does not have a good beginning. It took me a solid three chapters to get totally into it, but once I was in, I was hooked. There are so many themes in Jip, I wanted to stop...more
This book has been sitting on my shelf for years and I am so glad that I finally picked it up. I enjoyed the history lesson intertwined with Jip's story. It definitely enriched the novel and made it very believable.
Jip is a young man who lives at the county poor farm in rural Vermont. He doesn't know his actual history as to how he arrived there as a baby, but those who run the poor farm belittle him by telling him he fell out of the back of a gypsy wagaon. Jip has learned to like where he lives and even has made friends with those that the community find undesirable. When a local "lunatic" is delievered to the poor farm, Jip is ordered to make the cage he'll be living in. Jip finds the lunatic to be his b...more
Another amazing book by Paterson. This author pulls no punches with her subject matter. It's almost strange that these are classified as children's books.
Nov 29, 2008
Jennifer
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Mystery / Adventure lovers
Recommended to Jennifer by:
me
This book is about an orphaned boy who does not know who he is or where he came from until a strange man comes along. Should jip trust this man?
Orphan boy raised on twon farm becomes indispensible. Understands people and animals. Hunted by a slaver (his father) he escapes to Canada.
Great Story. quotes "For freedon, indeed, is life.", and "If you can put a name to fear you have some power over it."
Go Jip Go!!!
Go Jip Go!!!
The story of Jip, who tumbled off the back of a wagon when he was small and was raised on a Vermont "Poor Farm". Awesome book.
This was a great book. Someone let me borrow this book and I started to read it out of obligation but by the second chapter I couldn't put it down.
This book was confusing, and not as good as i thought it was. And on some parts of the book I couldn't get anything at all!
Mar 08, 2013
Amber Davison-Gault
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Teens
I read this when I was a teenager. I enjoyed the plot and following the main character through his life's story.
didnt think i would like it but ended up loving it although the end was confusing for me the plot was intriguing.
I hope, one day, to write characters as interesting, heartfelt and authentic as Katherine Paterson's.
From author's website:
People are always asking me questions I don't have answers for. One is, "When did you first know that you wanted to become a writer?" The fact is that I never wanted to be a writer, at least not when I was a child, or even a young woman. Today I want very much to be a writer. But when I was ten, I wanted to be either a movie star or a missionary. When I was twenty, I wanted t...more
More about Katherine Paterson...
People are always asking me questions I don't have answers for. One is, "When did you first know that you wanted to become a writer?" The fact is that I never wanted to be a writer, at least not when I was a child, or even a young woman. Today I want very much to be a writer. But when I was ten, I wanted to be either a movie star or a missionary. When I was twenty, I wanted t...more
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20 jan. 18:28