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90th out of 230 books
—
179 voters
What Jamie Saw
So begins one of the most compelling novels for young readers published in recent memory. It is a story of survival -- how nine-year-old Jamie, his mother, and his baby sister Nin leave an abusive situation, move to a small trailer in the woods, and slowly learn how to trust the people around them -- and each other.
Paperback, 128 pages
Published
March 1st 1997
by Puffin
(first published 1991)
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I honestly don't remember hearing about this book, which won a Newbery Honor Award in 1996. I don't like the cover art, so probably would have passed it up. I don't really know why I started reading it, but after the first sentence - When Jamie saw him throw the baby, saw Van throw the little baby, saw Van throw his baby sister Nin, then they moved. -I was hooked. This story tells of domestic violence and its aftermath from the point of view of 3rd grader, Jamie. Even though the ugly subject mat...more
Coman, C. (1995). What Jamie saw. Arden, North Carolina: Front Street.
Jamie is a nine-year-old boy living with his mother Patty and his half-sister Nin. One night, Jamie is startled awake by Nin’s crying and Patty’s boyfriend Van throwing Nin across the bedroom. Fortunately, Patty is there to catch Nin. Immediately following this abusive episode, Patty, Jamie, and Nin escape home to live with Patty’s childhood friend Earl. They stay with him for a couple of days, and in the meantime, they check...more
Jamie is a nine-year-old boy living with his mother Patty and his half-sister Nin. One night, Jamie is startled awake by Nin’s crying and Patty’s boyfriend Van throwing Nin across the bedroom. Fortunately, Patty is there to catch Nin. Immediately following this abusive episode, Patty, Jamie, and Nin escape home to live with Patty’s childhood friend Earl. They stay with him for a couple of days, and in the meantime, they check...more
This 1996 Newbery Honor book was also a finalist for the National Book Award. It packs a punch in a mere 126 pages and it addresses a social issue that is compelling and necessary to discuss, ie the impact that adult decisions have upon their small children. Jamie's mother chose to subject her children in an unsafe situation. In the end, Jamie's mother also chose a path toward better decisions.
Short of fuse and long of violence, the boyfriend of Jamie's mother symbolizes the terror that children...more
Short of fuse and long of violence, the boyfriend of Jamie's mother symbolizes the terror that children...more
The story is about a father throwing his baby out of a crib in the middle of the night and the family moves away from the father. This is basically the whole story. The story was very descriptive which gave me a good sense of what the surroundings look like but, not enough going on for the plot of the story. This story was a very quick read but it very confusing. There was no real climax to this story, and if there was it was right at the end. Nothing really exciting took place which was a bumme...more
Third grader, Jamie and his infant sister, Nin live with Patty, his mother and step-father, Van. One night, Jamie awakes to his step-father poised to footfall-toss crying Nin towards the wall. Luckily, Patty catches Nin in mid-flight without being harmed. Hurriedly, Patty gathers up Jamie and Nin and high-tails it out of the house and seeks shelter with old friend, Earl.
After being exposed to Van's violence, Jamie exhibits some tendencies towards abuse himself. Patty is bewildered, frustrated,...more
After being exposed to Van's violence, Jamie exhibits some tendencies towards abuse himself. Patty is bewildered, frustrated,...more
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What Jamie Saw is an amazingly detailed, realistic fiction novel, that I could not stop reading. This book partly takes place in a small town, partly in a man named Earl's house, and partly in a very small trailer in the middle of nowhere. There are four main characters in this wonderful book. Jamie, young boy that loves magic, and Patty, Jamie's mom, who goes through lots of tragic events. Two more main characters are Earl, Patty's great friend who takes care of Jamie and Patty for a while, an...more
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What Jamie saw should not be seen- ever. Not by children, not by adults. Unfortunately, it is seen all too often.
At the beginning of the book, Jamie lives with his mother, his half sister Nin, and Van, his mother's boyfriend. The first chapter is one of the most amazing openings to a book I've ever read. It is psychologically terse, with repeating lines, long rambling sentences, and a dream-like quality that represents a child jerked from sleep and unable to process what is happening. The reader...more
At the beginning of the book, Jamie lives with his mother, his half sister Nin, and Van, his mother's boyfriend. The first chapter is one of the most amazing openings to a book I've ever read. It is psychologically terse, with repeating lines, long rambling sentences, and a dream-like quality that represents a child jerked from sleep and unable to process what is happening. The reader...more
What Jamie Saw is a book about a young boy named Jamie, his mother, and his younger sister Nin. One night Jamie wakes up to his mother's boyfriend, Van, throwing his younger sister across the room because she is crying so hard. His mother miraculously catches Vin and she takes the kids and leaves. They go to his mother's friends house and move into a trailer at the edge of town. There they learn to deal with the fear of Van and dealing with their little family.
This story was very touching. The...more
This story was very touching. The...more
Escaping in the car with his mother and his little half-sister, Nin, Jamie tries not to think about what just happened. The end up living in a small trailer on an old logging road that is powered only by a generator. It is not much, but Jamie, Nin and their mom, Patty, make it home. Although they never talk about it, they live in fear of Patty’s boyfriend, Van, whom they had run from in the first place. Jamie’s teacher, Mrs. Desrochers is the only one who can pull both Patty and Jamie back towar...more
What Jamie Saw by Carolyn Coman is a really good book. This book is about child abuse. After Van (Jamie's dad) threw his infant daughter across the room, Jamie, his mom, and his sister Nin decided to move. They had to find a home and adjust to their new life. As I was reading this book, It filled me with suspense. When Van threw Nin, I wanted to know what would come next. What would happen to Nin? Would she be okay? I constantly wanted to keep reading more and more. This book showed me what chil...more
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Oct 21, 2010
Marlee
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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the plot in this book is that jamie and his mom got in to a problem and had to move. they moved in to jamies mom's freinds house. and jamie had a good time becuase it was like he had a family. a mom and a dad and a little sister to pick on.
i can connect to this book becuase me and jamies fathers aren't living with us. and that is how we can conect and jamie gets a father out of his moms friend. just like how i get a father out of my uncles.
i rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. becuase sometimes...more
i can connect to this book becuase me and jamies fathers aren't living with us. and that is how we can conect and jamie gets a father out of his moms friend. just like how i get a father out of my uncles.
i rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. becuase sometimes...more
I spent some time in the middle grades stacks at the library and found this tiny book, a short story, really. I took it home and read it in just over an hour. Jamie sees his mother's live-in boyfriend do something terrible that thankfully doesn't end badly. He and his mother and baby sister leave and set out on their own. Jamie struggles with anger and confusion and often lashes out at his mother and baby sister. I was curious how such a small book would be grand enough in its literary scope to...more
Jamie was in the third grade when he saw Van throw his little sister across the room. It was the middle of the night and he was in bed when he heard his stepfather come into the room and pick up the crying baby and fling her in rage. His mother took him and his little sister and moved out that night to a friend’s home where they would be safe. Jamie finds comfort in his magic book and spends hours each day working on magic tricks.
The book illustrates Jamie and his mother’s emotional trauma as th...more
The book illustrates Jamie and his mother’s emotional trauma as th...more
If you crave action-packed adventure with a typical plot line, then this might not be the book for you. If you enjoy detailed descriptions that take you to a different time and place, you won’t find that in this book. In What Jamie Saw, Carolyn Coman tells a realistic story of one family’s struggles in the aftermath of domestic violence and trauma. From a third person point-of-view, we learn about the main character, nine year old Jamie, his abusive step-father, Van, his mother, Patty, and Jami...more
Newberry Honor Book by Carolyn Coman. I read this short book in one sitting, it was a captivating story. With few friends and just a little bit of money, Jamie's mom moves Jamie and his sister out of an abusive relationship with her boyfriend. Jamie clings to his family and his magic tricks. The tale is a compelling story of overcoming fear and starting a new life.
Just over a hundred pages, the chapters move the reader forward to find out what is going to happen to Jamie next. The story is chara...more
Just over a hundred pages, the chapters move the reader forward to find out what is going to happen to Jamie next. The story is chara...more
I liked this book because it was like a book that I read in the past,"A Child Called It." Jamie, in this book witnessed something he should have seen, and Dave(from Child Called It) was the victim. So this book relates in many ways. I rate this book as a A+. I felt sad when I heard that Van(the evil stepfather) threw the infint across the room. this book had a lot of "show don't tell" details in it. Like for example, "she darted across the room like a missle, like a bullet, like a shooting star,...more
Imagine witnessing your baby sibling being thrown across a room. This horrific event is what Jamie saw in Carolyn Coman’s book what Jamie saw. Carolyn Coman recounts the aftermath of child abuse as seen through the eyes of a 9 year old boy. It’s a compelling story and the author does a good job describing the emotions of Jamie and how he view changes in his life after this event. I would rate this book a 4 on a scale of 1 to 5. Future readers should read this book because the characters are well...more
Because this book is short and the protagonist is in third grade, I think teachers might give this to children who are too young for it. If a teacher suspects that a child is in a possibly abusive situation, the teacher could recommend this book, but otherwise I would not want to see third graders reading it. Beyond the first sentence of the book, there is no violence in the book, except when Jamie kicks his mother as well as the drawer in which Nin is sleeping. But their fear is palpable. It is...more
Y’all, I want to preface this by saying that for all that What Jamie Saw is a Newbery Honor Book and all, I am not… entirely sure… that it will be enjoyed by its target audience. I don’t have any nine-year-olds to test it on, but I have a hard time imagining that it’s particularly popular among that age group, because holy crap, heavy-topic book is heavy. Heavy, and slow moving. Heavy, slow moving, and lacking what one would call a definitive plot structure.
Plus, unappealing cover.
LUCKILY! Lucki...more
Plus, unappealing cover.
LUCKILY! Lucki...more
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"What Jamie Saw" by Carolyn Coman
(from the back cover)
Jamie and his mom and baby sister Nin have moved to Earl's little trailer that looks like a toaster up in the hills in the middle of nowhere. Jamie imagines that they are the only survivors of some catastrophe, but they really moved because Van threw Nin across the room. Nin's okay, because Mom caught her, and Earl brings them food and makes sure they're okay. But then there's the county fair and Jamie wants to go. And there's school and he m...more
(from the back cover)
Jamie and his mom and baby sister Nin have moved to Earl's little trailer that looks like a toaster up in the hills in the middle of nowhere. Jamie imagines that they are the only survivors of some catastrophe, but they really moved because Van threw Nin across the room. Nin's okay, because Mom caught her, and Earl brings them food and makes sure they're okay. But then there's the county fair and Jamie wants to go. And there's school and he m...more
This is the first (and to date, only) Carolyn Coman book that I have read, but I would be interested in any future releases that flow from her pen. There are a lot of promising ideas in this book, and a flow of style that readers of all ages will find accessible and interesting, I think. The strength of this book, in my opinion, is the ease with which young readers who have faced similar situations to the ones that Jamie faced will identify with (and hopefully find comfort from) the protaganist....more
Not a light read. Definitely only for people who like to study pain.
Jamie is a third grade boy who sees his mom's boyfriend throw his half-sister (who is only a baby) clear across the room. The rest of the book sort of studies how Jamie and his mom recover from witnessing this (the baby is just fine, don't worry). It's leveled at a T, although there is some language and the content is tough, so maybe hold off for older readers who are a little behind.
Jamie is a third grade boy who sees his mom's boyfriend throw his half-sister (who is only a baby) clear across the room. The rest of the book sort of studies how Jamie and his mom recover from witnessing this (the baby is just fine, don't worry). It's leveled at a T, although there is some language and the content is tough, so maybe hold off for older readers who are a little behind.
The audiobook of What Jamie Saw was compelling. The story opens with a shocking incident of child abuse (although it is not overly graphic for young readers). Jamie's mother takes him and his baby sister out of the house, but Jamie has not finished processing his fear or what has happened. The story is told from his point of view, with a realistic train of thought for a 3rd grader. It is a quick read, but the audiobook makes for a quick listen also.
I had to read this for a college course to write a paper on whether or not this book deserved the Newbery Award. I didn't enjoy it at all, and while it was a quick read it was a confusing one. It is a tough subject to write about, but I don't think it was handled correctly. The pacing was off and there seemed to be no climax, and what seemingly may have been the climax was in the last chapter of the book.
So, I've heard book reports on this book, but it just goes to prove that hearing a book report is not the same thing as reading the text. It's a heartbreaking account of domestic violence from the perspective of a third-grade boy. The ending feels real, not forced, and I love how the author is so careful to make this a short book, thus making it feel less melodramatic. I will continue to recommend this book to students and adults alike who are interested in a book on the topic. The best Teen equ...more
An incredible example of not only starting the story as late as possible but also of the power of third person limited. The compact use of words and emotion pull the reader in and keep the story very real. Jamie’s emotions are never explained but simply show in all their confusion and immediacy. One of the best books I've read in a very long time.
Very interesting. Coman has a way of using her words sparsely to capture places, scenes and feelings in great detail. Jamie's struggle with his fear and his lack of control over his life is palpable. The setting--the low income, trailer-living, car-won't-start world--is gritty and believable. Lots going on here.
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Carolyn Coman (born 1951 in Evanston near Chicago) is a writer of children's books living in South Hampton, New Hampshire. Her books What Jamie Saw (1995) and Many Stones (2000) were nominated for several awards.
She worked as a bookbinder from 1975-84 and later as an editor with Heinemann before she became a full-time writer. Her books include the portrait documentary of the debut, and a picture b...more
More about Carolyn Coman...
She worked as a bookbinder from 1975-84 and later as an editor with Heinemann before she became a full-time writer. Her books include the portrait documentary of the debut, and a picture b...more
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