Roller Skates

Sep 07, 2008 Wendy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: newbery

I'd been looking forward to this, since I remembered it being a childhood favorite of Kathleen's. It was an enjoyable read, but I think it's one of the few Newberys that I feel like I would have enjoyed more if I'd read it first as a child. As an adult... some of it seems weird. I kept wondering if there was another book that came before, or something, because I felt like I was missing some information that the author thought I would have (like stuff about Lucinda's family). And the weird disjoi...more

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Jan 13, 2009 Carrie rated it 5 of 5 stars

To explain why I recently re-read Roller Skates, it is necessary to delve into my sometime strange reading habits. I have already mentioned the young adult books from my parents’ house that got burnt up in the fire. Prior to the blaze, I had been in the middle of carrying out one of my strange reading projects. To put it simply, one day I came home from law school, and decided to: 1) alphabetize all the young adult books in the guest room (at least 300 hundred books) and then 2) read them all, i...more To explain why I recently re-read Roller Skates, it is necessary to delve into my sometime strange reading habits. I have already mentioned the young adult books from my parents’ house that got burnt up in the fire. Prior to the blaze, I had been in the middle of carrying out one of my strange reading projects. To put it simply, one day I came home from law school, and decided to: 1) alphabetize all the young adult books in the guest room (at least 300 hundred books) and then 2) read them all, in alphabetical-by-author order. Since most of the books in the room were either ones that, as a child, I had determined were too boring to read, or books that my younger siblings had added to the pile, it meant that I ended up reading many books for the first time – and finding lots of great books I had overlooked because they had boring covers, or bad blurbs on the back. I got pretty far, too, until they all burnt up (or, more precisely were totally destroyed by smoke damage).

Which leads me to Roller Skates. This was definitely one of the books that I had disdained as a child because of the dull cover/title. I was not a particularly athletic child, and had no interest in Roller Skating. The cover showed a drawing of a girl on, you guessed it – Roller Skates. No thanks, I said.

What a fool I was! As I saw, when I read it for the first time (at the ripe old age of about 23) and as I saw on my recent re-read, this is an absolutely charming book. Set in 1890’s New York, it tells the story of Lucinda, a society child who has a year-long adventure when her parents go abroad for her mother’s health, and she is allowed to stay with her teachers at their boarding house (rather than her snobby Aunt Emily and her “four docile ladylike daughters”). Lucinda, who is absolutely lovely and charming and Anne-like, takes this opportunity to explore her world and meet people from all social stratas, including a cab-driver, a policeman and a fruit vendor’s son. She makes friends of all sorts, she learns about life outside of the Social Register, and we benefit from her experiences through their charming re-tellings. Totally deserving of the Newbury Medal – which it won in 1937, and as fresh today as it was then. I am so glad that I ran across a copy in Green Apple books – and even more pleased that it was the same copy, “boring” cover* and all, that I owned before.(less)

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Feb 21, 2013 Ann Carpenter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, newbery

A sweet book, this was an enjoyable read that I wish I had read as a child. I think I would have embraced it whole-heartedly at the age of ten, when I was devouring books like Little Women or All of a Kind Family that are set in roughly the same era. As an adult, I'm a much more critical reader. I enjoyed the book quite a bit, but was somewhat flummoxed by the general lack of emotional depth. There are two very upsetting sections. The second section was intended to be very sad, and was, to a cer...more

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Feb 22, 2012 Arthur Pengerbil rated it 5 of 5 stars

Reading Level: Grades 4 - 6

When ten-year-old Lucinda's parents decide to travel to Italy for a year, they drop Lucinda off at a sort of temporary orphanage in New York. Undaunted, Lucinda straps on her roller skates and begins skating around the city, making friends as she goes. Most of these friends would be frowned upon by her stuffy Aunt Emily (who Lucinda must spend every Saturday sewing with) because of either their age or their status in life, but cheerful Lucinda doesn't mind, and befrien...more

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Jun 01, 2011 Lauren Smith rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: newbery-awards

I picked this book up from my stack with full expectancy to be bored out of my mind. (I know – you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but it was pink…) I thought this would blow my tomboyish personality to madness. After reading it, though I wasn’t wowed by it, I did like it for what it was. There are many characters, some so colorful you wonder how realistic they actually are but anything can happen in New York. Lucinda is left to stay in the states while her stuck-up parents travel Italy and...more

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Oct 31, 2010 Ensiform rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, newbery

Winner of the 1937 Newbery, this book tells of one summer the life of Lucinda, a ten-year-old girl left by her parents in the care of an instructress, Miss Peters (and not, she is thankful, in the care of her officious, too-proper Aunt Emily). Roller skating with freedom around 1890s New York, she finds a variety of people to befriend, some of whom seem like stereotypes today: the Irish hansom cab driver, the friendly Irish patrolman on his beat, the Italian fruit seller and his family living in...more

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Oct 07, 2010 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Roller Skates is an autobiographical novel about the author's childhood in 1890s New York City. A child of privilege, in circumstances that allow her a great deal of temporary, unusual freedom, 10-year-old Lucinda Wyman experiences a year without the distant, slightly-neglectful disapproval of her parents. Lucinda rapidly creates a surrogate family, with the novel twist that this new family of Lucinda's actually wants her around, and values her intelligence and stubborn sense of self.

It's a beau...more Roller Skates is an autobiographical novel about the author's childhood in 1890s New York City. A child of privilege, in circumstances that allow her a great deal of temporary, unusual freedom, 10-year-old Lucinda Wyman experiences a year without the distant, slightly-neglectful disapproval of her parents. Lucinda rapidly creates a surrogate family, with the novel twist that this new family of Lucinda's actually wants her around, and values her intelligence and stubborn sense of self.

It's a beautiful, compactly-written book that was surprisingly dense--it took me a full two days to read, even though it's short and intended for children. There was a lot to savor: eyewitness accounts of 1890s New York, watching a young person grow (as corny as that sounds) intellectually and emotionally, following Lucinda on wonderful romps and experiencing real sorrow through her eyes. My critical eye had a lot of work to do, too, because there's stuff in the book that's problematic, and it would be careless to simply dismiss it as a product of the times.

There is a lot here that really is a product of the times, as far as race and class go, but there's a persistent narrative in the book that has a lot of popularity even now: "Upper-class white girl meets people not of her ethnicity, skin-color, and economic class." Lucinda is the center of events, even when they happen to other people; she is the cheerful angel who goes forth to brighten the dreary world of all those Other folks. This is not a narrative that died in the 1930s, or even in the 1990s, although authors are a little bit more self-conscious about it than they might once have been.

In other words, there's a lot about privilege here. That doesn't mean you shouldn't read the book, or share it with a young person. Roller Skates is still an incredibly good, incredibly big-hearted novel, and there's a lot here that's wonderful. It's precisely because of all the good in the book that it would make an ideal opportunity to discuss, with a child, the nature of privilege and how the narrative both acknowledges and overlooks it. It's a difficult, elusive subject, and the sooner parents and children can talk about it, the better.

Roller Skates is proof that reading, thinking, and enjoyment don't have to be mutually exclusive.(less)

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Jul 13, 2010 Antof9 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-read, americana, charming, made-me-cry, read-the-newberys

A good book is a good book. Doesn't matter who the intended audience is!

I read this as part of our "Read the Newberys Project" (up to 1937 now!), and wasn't disappointed at all. In fact, it was a great book to follow "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle", which I was thoroughly annoyed with. It's just fascinating to me how a good book draws me in, and the "target" age is totally meaningless.

It's interesting to me that in the Newbery lexicon, this follows "Caddie Woodlawn" and "Invincible Louisa" so clos...more A good book is a good book. Doesn't matter who the intended audience is!

I read this as part of our "Read the Newberys Project" (up to 1937 now!), and wasn't disappointed at all. In fact, it was a great book to follow "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle", which I was thoroughly annoyed with. It's just fascinating to me how a good book draws me in, and the "target" age is totally meaningless.

It's interesting to me that in the Newbery lexicon, this follows "Caddie Woodlawn" and "Invincible Louisa" so closely. It's as if the Newbury committee knew they needed to get some "girl" books out there. Not that this one is girlie at all, but Lucinda as the primary character is well, obviously a girl :)

It's a charming book about a 10-year old girl whose parents go to Europe for a year (for the mom's health). She's the youngest in the family with 3 much older brothers, and we really don't know much about the family until the very end. The family is superfluous though - they're only in the story to be absent, because this is the year of her freedom. She considers herself in an orphanage, and spends the whole year doing things her mom, and certainly Great Aunt Emily, wouldn't have approved of. She makes friends with the family who runs a fruitstand, a homeless person (or 2), the Central Park policeman (and later bribes him w/ candy!), a hansom cab driver (and his wife!), theatre people, and more. It's fab.

One of the reasons I like Lucinda so much is she and I are kindred spirits. Bonus? I never heard anyone describe it this way before, but it's me! When Lucinda first meets Tony at the fruitstand, some thugs have just stolen some fruit from him. In helping to pick it up:

"I call that mean. Two against one and stealing, I call that mean! Jumping Jupiter, I wish Patrolman M'Gonegal had this beat! He'd lick 'em good."

Lucinda was using her best street vernacular. Like Nature in Thanatopsis she spoke a various language and used it unfailingly.

You can't read this book and miss how roller skates get out wild energy, allow Lucinda freedom, and more. I loved her roller skate theology: Isn't it elegant not to have tantrums any more! I guess half of it is because you don't expect them; and the other half is roller skates. They use up a lot of energy and iron out a lot of feelings. ... they ought to be called 'the mother's friend.'

I like that there are some subtle things in this book that would speak to a young girl's heart when reading this. When Lucinda is asked to be a bridesmaid in a wedding, she asks the bride why she'd pick her because she's "homely as two toads, and the other girls are so pretty". The bride says, "You'll look perfectly elegant too, Lucinda. You're so alive and interesting - don't you think that's better than just being pretty?"

I like that :)

There's more I could say about this charming book -- it really did enchant me, and there are also some heavy parts in it. But I'll leave it at a very high 4 stars (wish there were halves to give), and recommend it to pretty much anyone.(less)

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Apr 28, 2010 Eileen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

I saw this on the dollar rack at the Strand, remembered reading it something in the vicinity of 20 years ago, and picked it up. Hey, it won the Newbery Medal in 1937; it must be of at least reasonable quality. Fine. Then I reread it.

In the broadest sense, the story goes: "10-year-old Lucinda makes friends everywhere, often while roller skating, in the NYC of 189-." This seems fine on the surface--but then you get past the surface and find the endemic racism. I say "endemic" purposefully; this is...more I saw this on the dollar rack at the Strand, remembered reading it something in the vicinity of 20 years ago, and picked it up. Hey, it won the Newbery Medal in 1937; it must be of at least reasonable quality. Fine. Then I reread it.

In the broadest sense, the story goes: "10-year-old Lucinda makes friends everywhere, often while roller skating, in the NYC of 189-." This seems fine on the surface--but then you get past the surface and find the endemic racism. I say "endemic" purposefully; this is not at all the racism of the current US. For example, there are approximately zero black people depicted in the book; the only instance I could find was a backhanded line in blackface from an undescribed doorman. I don't know about you, but I don't for one second believe there were zero black people living and working in NYC at the end of the 19th century. That's offensive enough as it is, but as the book progresses, and Lucinda makes friends among those people clearly "not of her class," we start going back to previous instances of American racism. Key immigrant populations from the second half of the 19th century--Irish, Italians, and inspecific Slavs who I suspect are supposed to be Jews, although maybe they're supposed to be Russian, or both! who can say?--are brought in, depicted as "friendly but uneducated and low-class". While Lucinda makes friends with them, there's definitely this strange jolly-faced Other quality to all the so-called characterization.

Then. Lucinda meets a woman--Chinese? Japanese? who knows?--who is depicted in this completely bizarre and not at all okay Asian-exoticism sort of way. She's married to someone who is clearly depicted as Jewish, very jealous/possessive, and remarkably fetishistic. As an adult, I suspect this to be a mail-order bride situation, although it's never clearly stated. So. Lucinda of course makes friends with her. Then one day she talks back in school and is sent home. You'd expect this sort of thing in this type of book, right? Yes. So she decides to go see her wonderful Asian friend--spoiler alert--and suddenly finds her murdered. Seriously. With a ceremonial dagger that was previously hanging on the wall. WHAT. She of course finds her Other friends in the building--the super and his wife--and they say, "Lucinda, you can't be caught up in this. Did anyone see you? I'll take you home. You were never here. The maid will find her soon enough." Again: WHAT. WHAT.

Then the plot never, ever comes back around to this at all. It's over. While death can have a place in a book like this--for instance, a different friend of hers dies of Victorian novel disease, i.e. diphtheria plus poverty, later in the book--the whole exoticist murder depiction really cannot. I don't even know what else to say. I mean, there are other problems: the first chapter frame is unnecessary; the story grinds to a very awkward halt at the end of Lucinda's year. But these issues are nothing compared to the completely out of place, racist, and anti-semitic murder situation.

There is no way I would give this book to any kid at this point in time. I don't know if I can even thoroughly parse it myself. Here's what I think: it's probably horribly accurate to the attitude of the time. It did get the Newbery Medal in 1937. This is not exactly the high point for tolerance in American (or any other western) society. The attitudes may be exaggerated; I'd think that by 1937, a full 74 year lifetime after the NY draft riots of 1863, issues of anti-European racism were at least tapering off. Nowadays, certainly, I can't imagine people tolerating anti-Irish or anti-Italian sentiment; the most you see is St. Patrick's day green beer, the interior decor of Bennigan's, and episodes of the Jersey Shore. But a book written in the mid-30s, depicting attitudes in the 1890s--I think it's accurate. This book is a throwback to a different time, with a different set of tolerated prejudices, and while (as with an awful lot of the books I've been reading lately) it's of use as a historical document, it's not at all a healthy mindset to propagate now.
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May 02, 2009 Kristen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Roller Skates is a fiction book about a young 10-year-old girl, Lucinda, whose parents go off to Italy to be in a climate where her mother’s illness can heal. Lucinda, consequently, is put in the care of two single women who aren’t very hard disciplinarians and give her quite a bit of latitude and freedom. The book narrates her daily excursions through the city of New York. With her friendly, affable nature she makes friends with almost everyone—including a policeman, a cabdriver, fruit stand ma...more

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Feb 10, 2011 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: read-aloud 6+, some difficult content (death)

Shelves: newbery-medal

1937 Newbery Award.

Something about this story reminds me of Anne of Green Gables and my niece Amelia. An adventurous ten year old girl, excited about life and learning new things, and occasionally getting herself into trouble along the way. It's wordy, but it held my interest. While I was reading this I happened to be spending a few days with Amelia. This could be her story! Other than several incidents that happen toward the end (don't want to spoil it) I think she would really enjoy it as a re...more

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Dec 16, 2009 Christiane rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens-fiction

Lucinda is the neglected youngest child of a couple who go to Italy for a year, leaving her in the care of her school teacher. It is the best year of Lucinda's life, free for the first time from her upper-class family and its myriad social rules and restrictions. Today's parents might quake at Lucinda's adventures roller skating alone (!) around New York city and making friends with various characters but her desire for freedom and to “belong to herself” is maybe even more necessary for children...more

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Feb 08, 2010 Kaethe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Kaethe by: Sarah

Shelves: adventure, fiction, kids, age-middle-grade, theater

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I really enjoyed reading this old Newbery winner, I enjoyed it quite a bit. A ten year old girl gets a year in Manhattan in the 1890s, a year to do pretty much whatever she likes and nothing she doesn't. So, what she does is, she makes all kinds of interesting friends at all levels, and she is adored by everyone, and she gets to meddle in everyone's life to good effect. It's pretty much what I imagine Pollyanna to be about, since I've never read or seen it. Lucinda isn't too good to be believed,...more

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Jul 24, 2009 Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance rated it 4 of 5 stars

“Who wanted to walk through lonely years, right foot, left foot, and never change step---never skip, run or skate?”

That’s Lucinda, an Anne-of-Green-Gables girl, filled with energy and enthusiasm, unexpectedly set loose in the city of New York. Lucinda’s parents head off to Europe for their health and Lucinda is left in the care of two very relaxed school teachers. She travels around New York City, befriending the poor and the lonely, on roller skates.

What a surprise to see a girl of the 1890’s,...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Ardee rated it 5 of 5 stars

I remembered this book fondly from my childhood, but only a few plot points - the potatoes cooked in a tin can and a puppet show of The Tempest. I searched for the book recently (some 50 years later!) and ordered it, thinking to give it to my niece. But first, I re-read it and just sobbed - so many aspects of the book came back to me, including the way I tried throughout my life to be just like Lucinda - fearless, adventurous, egalitarian, innovative, always positive and kind. Children's books a...more

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Mar 19, 2009 Katy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I can't really decide how I feel about this one. On the one hand it was a fun childhood adventure. I wish I had grown up in an era where we could run free like Lucinda did. How fun it would be to be friends with everyone and just run free.

On the other hand, the story is a bit slow. And, I am having a hard time figuring out how some of the things mentioned fit the rest of the story (for a clearer explanation see Spoiler below).

Anyway. Overall, an enjoyable quick read, but it's not my favorite.

SPO...more

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Jan 30, 2010 Caitlin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

I was thinking about this book for months before I decided to find it again. I read and re-read this when I was growing up. I loved it then and I love it now.

Lucinda Wyman is a tomboy who doesn't fit into the box that her time and place would like to put her in. Her parents' trip to Italy buys her a year of freedom in which to explore 1890's New York on roller skates. The story of Lucinda, the wonderful people she befriends in the amazing city she loves was mesmerizing to me as a kid. I loved Lu...more

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Feb 03, 2011 Annette rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: newbery-medal-winners

There are some things that I really like about this book: I really like the main character, Lucinda. I think that most girls could relate to her even though the book takes place over a hundred years ago. I like the setting; New York City, in the 1890's. I really like the diversified group of friends she makes. She herself comes from an upper-class family, but she makes friends with everybody she comes across including a hobo.

There are a couple of things that I don't like about the book. It was r...more

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May 31, 2011 Kristen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: newberry-winners-i-ve-read

Although I really did enjoy reading this book, there are a few things about it that are still bothering me. First of all, who on earth is the person looking out the window at Lucinda during the introduction? Secondly, what did happen to her Princess - I'll say no more for those who haven't read it. Let's just say that I felt like that was never completely resolved. And, finally, it was difficult for me, after a pretty light-hearted read through the first 2/3 of the book, to have two pretty big t...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Andrea added it

I was excited to read this for two reasons: one, it takes place in New York City and two, it's about a girl who loves to roller skate, and that reminded me so much of myself when I was young. I loved Lucinda, a tomboy who was also a perfectly polite little lady. The way she dealt with being pawned off on strangers while her parents traveled to Europe was amazing. I don't know any 10 year old girls who would have dealt so well with being left behind for a year. Lucinda made the best of her situat...more

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Oct 10, 2009 Janis rated it 4 of 5 stars

New York in the 1890s (when Grant's tomb is being built "way out in the country") is the setting for this story of a young girl whose parents leave her in the hands of caretakers while they spend a year in Europe. Spunky young Lucinda skates the streets, making friends with a cast of characters including policemen, the boy who sells fruit on the corner, and the "rag-and-bottles" man. I was very taken with the young heroine, who puts on plays, loves words, and finds "hoofing" to be "too pokey". H...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Jenn Estepp rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: historically-speaking, kidlit

Just, no. Maybe if I'd read it as a kid, when I would maybe not be bothered by how twee and precocious Lucinda is. Maybe. But, as an adult reader, I kind of can't stand her. Or the way this story romanticizes poverty, seeing it as a lark for the progressive young white girl and all the people of other classes and ethnicities only exist to teach her lessons or giver her life meaning. And, once that lesson has been learned, they're free to just exit stage left in the most offhanded of ways. Blergh...more

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Nov 10, 2012 Heidi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-with-kids

I enjoyed most of the story, but had major questions about some aspects of the book.
#1: Who is the narrator at the beginning of the book? This is never explained and we never return to find out. {My theory is that it is grown-up Lucinda imagining herself as a child, but that wouldn't really account for all of the details. I think the book said it had been just a year since she "went away and never really came back"}

#2: There is no follow-up with a briefly-mentioned murder.

#3: What actually happe...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Matt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, fiction, newbery

I really, really enjoyed this one. I'm not sure why some books just have that spark that makes you love them, but this one had it for me. The prose is witty and precise, the characters are likable and fleshed out, and there's a sense throughout the book that these people seem real and childhood really could be that magical and confusing. There are funny parts and sad parts, but the sensibility throughout is one that really grabbed me.
The book's sensibility, in fact, reminded me a little of Cris...more

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Aug 25, 2011 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Kind of a strange book, Newberry award winner written in 1937, but the little 10 year old girl seems to roam New York City on her roller skates basically on her own, which I wouldn't think would seem safe for a well brought up little girl of middle class family even back then. I don't know if it seemed more realistic back then or not, but I am not sure that I really liked Lucinda, the main character. There were hints here and there about her as an adult but it never really came out and said what...more

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Aug 21, 2011 Grace rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: school, childrens, classics, historical-fiction

Rated: G

There wasn't a plot, really. The characters were fun and lovable, though. The writing all around good, just not stunning. This isn't my favorite book, but it was interesting and well done, even if it was a little like, "She makes friends and rides on roller skates. That's it. This book is so full of excitement."

Would I recommend this? No. While I couldn't believe the ending*, it isn't at the top of my list of books to recommend to people. It wasn't awful. It just wasn't amazing. :)

Head...more

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Feb 20, 2011 emily rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: recs-mom, list-award-newbery

Notes I took while reading:
Why are we supposed to care about a story the narrator in the beginning has completely forgotten about?!?!? Why even begin the book that way?!
I agree with others’ comments – Lucinda seems much, much older than ten. I mean, seriously, she’s commenting on the nationalities of her previous nannies?
At first, I agreed heavily with KT – Lucinda is disgustingly optimistic about everything, but as the book went on, I started to like her optimism, it really helped me see everyt...more Notes I took while reading:
Why are we supposed to care about a story the narrator in the beginning has completely forgotten about?!?!? Why even begin the book that way?!
I agree with others’ comments – Lucinda seems much, much older than ten. I mean, seriously, she’s commenting on the nationalities of her previous nannies?
At first, I agreed heavily with KT – Lucinda is disgustingly optimistic about everything, but as the book went on, I started to like her optimism, it really helped me see everything that was going on – the use of Shakespeare, her many different friends, all of it.
I also enjoyed the interspersing of Lucinda’s diary entries – it was a nice foray into her narration style and her personality – but I wish they hadn’t fallen off toward the end of the novel – I can see why she stopped writing as much, though. I would have too, if I were her.
Love the description of her teacher as almost having more authority than God. The religion present in this book is, for me, the perfect dosage for a book like this.
Her willingness to be an orphan reminds me of Lois Lowry’s The Willoughbys.
This book is definitely distinguished for books of its kind – books for young girls tired of being prim and proper – though I think many girls would have chosen to read this book even if they were not tired of their expected lifestyle as Lucinda was.
I’ve seen Lucinda described as a tomboy, but I wouldn’t necessarily agree – she’s proper in her own way, she is a lady, she just doesn’t want people like Aunt Emily telling her what to do. She’s perfectly happy to sew costumes for her theater, she just doesn’t want to be forced to count her stitches and make everything perfect for reasons she doesn’t understand. Actually, she reminds me of Annie… not that I’ve seen a version of Annie in ten or fifteen years. And Lucinda definitely makes me giggle – when she told off her Aunt Emily – “If you must say [I am as ugly as two toads] keep it down to one toad. I’m sick to death of two!”
Her enthusiasm for ALL things is extremely contagious – she probably was a great role model for her readers in this way. She is undaunted by language barriers, social class, age, bullies, bribery, propriety… She knows what is good, and what is right, and she will not stop at anything to achieve goodness in all aspects of her world.
Would you say Lucinda is meddlesome? Making clothes for Gemma, sort of pointing out to the family that they’re too poor to do it themselves? Doing things for Trinket that her parents couldn’t afford, rubbing it in that they can’t, but a mere ten year old can help? I know Lucinda doesn’t mean any of her goodness to have any ill effects, but is she selfish with her ambitions to keep the world perfect, or is she just headstrong & a good-natured girl?
Lucinda’s realization that after her year alone, she could never go back to either of her lives – the one before her parents left, and that she can never have this New York life again, not after the death of the Princess or Trinket, not after leaving. Everyone has changed too much, especially Lucinda. She’s sort of like a Peter Pan figure, except she finally realizes she does need to grow up. Page 106: “It was habit for Lucinda to reach out for the world with fancy rather than emotion. Not until she was grown was she to know that her family had always looked upon her as a cold, undemonstrative child who would stand tsiff and unresisting while she was being kissed; visibly glad to have it over with; that rarely did she speak of love or proffer affection. But those who knew her that tenth year knew her as a child eager with her loving and her showing of it. She, herself, was conscious of a kind of awe at the way certain things and people stirred her from within, especially those people who gave generously of their trust to her.”
I did not expect this book to be anything like it was, and it’s quickly become a contender for one of my Newbery favorites.
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Oct 10, 2011 Alisha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, newbery

Newbery Winner.

Let's start with some stand out quotes:

"Fall weather was the best weather for making friends. You met everybody coming or going; met them alive and eager and made friendly by the gently keen September air." (AGREED)

"Lucinda was prepared for anything but this. The old Lucinda had learned to take punishment, chin-up; sermons had been preached at her since her ears had been open. She had been kept home from parties, deprived of her allowance, sent to bed supperless, and had word a p...more

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Jun 26, 2010 Cathy Roe rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is such a sweet book! A real sentimental favorite of mine. My dear aunt gave (or loaned?) it to me when I was about 12. I just loved it. Years later I still thought about it. Tracked it down and read it recently. I'm in a Book Club and for June we decided everyone would read any book they chose. I loved Roller Skates all over again, and was pleasantly surprised at how much of the story I remembered correctly after all these years. It's a charming book, though it does have a very serious sto...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Sarah Sammis rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed, read-in-2011, exwishlist

Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer won the 1937 Newbery Award. I can't recall if the award is why I added it to my wishlist or if someone specifically recommended it to me.

The book description makes the book sound like a magical adventure. Lucinda gets a year to live with forward thinking Miss Peters where she can roller skate to school, talk with the local beat cop and cabbie and even play in the street with the local boys. The execution, though, is not so magical. Maybe the book is just feeling date...more

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/984168.Roller_Skates?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348023335l/984168.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/984168.Roller_Skates?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer[/url]

Roller Skates (Lucinda Wyman #1)

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Roller Skates (Lucinda Wyman #1)

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