What do you think?
Little Audrey
"What else would you wish for?" Daddy says. "If you could have anything in the world, what would you wish for?"
I shrug. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe . . ."
"Maybe what?"
"For us to live better than we do."
He does not say anything.
In 1948, award-winning author Ruth White lived in Jewell Valley, a coal camp nestled between the hills of southwestern Virginia, with her mother, still mourning for a baby who died four years earlier; her father, who spent the weekends and most of his pay out drinking; and her three older sisters, Audrey, Yvonne, and Eleanor. Told in Audrey's voice, this is how the author imagines Audrey's experiences during a time of great trauma for the White family – and what happened before they were able to live a better life.
This snapshot of life in a coal camp, complete with everyday heartaches and joys – as well as stories, songs, and jokes – is Ruth White's most personal work to date.
Little Audrey is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
I shrug. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe . . ."
"Maybe what?"
"For us to live better than we do."
He does not say anything.
In 1948, award-winning author Ruth White lived in Jewell Valley, a coal camp nestled between the hills of southwestern Virginia, with her mother, still mourning for a baby who died four years earlier; her father, who spent the weekends and most of his pay out drinking; and her three older sisters, Audrey, Yvonne, and Eleanor. Told in Audrey's voice, this is how the author imagines Audrey's experiences during a time of great trauma for the White family – and what happened before they were able to live a better life.
This snapshot of life in a coal camp, complete with everyday heartaches and joys – as well as stories, songs, and jokes – is Ruth White's most personal work to date.
Little Audrey is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
146 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2008
About the author
Ruth White
83 books115 followersI was born in the Appalachian hills of Virginia, which is the setting for Belle Prater's Boy and The Search for Belle Prater. I lived there until I graduated from high school and went away to college. Though I left the hills, they never left me. My memories of those years are quite vivid. I have always referred to that time as both traumatic and wonderful. I get most of my ideas for my stories from those memories of my childhood home, the small coal-mining town of Grundy, Virginia.
I started writing at a very young age. I remember trying to write stories before I was even able to put long sentences together. It was just something I felt compelled to do, probably because I loved stories so much. We had no television because my family was very poor; my mother was raising my three sisters and me with very little money. So we read aloud and enjoyed each other’s company.
Eventually I became a teacher and then a school librarian. Working in the public schools among adolescents fueled my desire to write, and I suppose the age group I worked with helped me determine that I wanted to write for them instead of for adults or smaller children. I wrote my first book, The City Rose, based on an experience that happened when I taught seventh and eighth grade in Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina. The schools had recently been integrated, and I had two black girls in one of my classes. I noticed that whenever we went to the library, they didn’t check out any books. Finally, they told me that it was because they couldn’t find any books about black children. So I decided to write one.
For Belle Prater's Boy, my inspiration came from Grundy, like it has so many times. When I was small I used to ride through the nicest residential area there and look at the pretty houses and manicured lawns. I thought these were wealthy people who had ideal lives. Only in later years did I realize that the people living in those houses were quite average, living the way most Americans live. They had their own particular problems, which I could not even imagine. So I decided to set a novel there. First, I created Gypsy, the city mouse, who lived in one of those pretty houses, and Woodrow, the country mouse, who was from the sticks. Then I asked them to tell me their story.
I didn’t plan to write a sequel to Belle Prater's Boy. I thought Woodrow's theory about what happened to his mother would be enough for the reader, but it obviously was not. I had many letters from readers wanting to know what happened to Belle, and asking me to write a sequel. Actually, I did the first draft of the sequel in the late nineties. After many revisions, I created The Search for Belle Prater.
When I'm not writing, I like to walk in the park with my golden retriever, listen to books on tape, and watch movies. Away from home, I like to visit schools and talk to young people about books and writing. My daughter usually travels with me, and we have a great time together.
I started writing at a very young age. I remember trying to write stories before I was even able to put long sentences together. It was just something I felt compelled to do, probably because I loved stories so much. We had no television because my family was very poor; my mother was raising my three sisters and me with very little money. So we read aloud and enjoyed each other’s company.
Eventually I became a teacher and then a school librarian. Working in the public schools among adolescents fueled my desire to write, and I suppose the age group I worked with helped me determine that I wanted to write for them instead of for adults or smaller children. I wrote my first book, The City Rose, based on an experience that happened when I taught seventh and eighth grade in Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina. The schools had recently been integrated, and I had two black girls in one of my classes. I noticed that whenever we went to the library, they didn’t check out any books. Finally, they told me that it was because they couldn’t find any books about black children. So I decided to write one.
For Belle Prater's Boy, my inspiration came from Grundy, like it has so many times. When I was small I used to ride through the nicest residential area there and look at the pretty houses and manicured lawns. I thought these were wealthy people who had ideal lives. Only in later years did I realize that the people living in those houses were quite average, living the way most Americans live. They had their own particular problems, which I could not even imagine. So I decided to set a novel there. First, I created Gypsy, the city mouse, who lived in one of those pretty houses, and Woodrow, the country mouse, who was from the sticks. Then I asked them to tell me their story.
I didn’t plan to write a sequel to Belle Prater's Boy. I thought Woodrow's theory about what happened to his mother would be enough for the reader, but it obviously was not. I had many letters from readers wanting to know what happened to Belle, and asking me to write a sequel. Actually, I did the first draft of the sequel in the late nineties. After many revisions, I created The Search for Belle Prater.
When I'm not writing, I like to walk in the park with my golden retriever, listen to books on tape, and watch movies. Away from home, I like to visit schools and talk to young people about books and writing. My daughter usually travels with me, and we have a great time together.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 134 reviews
February 11, 2013
Life was difficult in 1948 for the White family. Living in Southwestern Virginia in a coal mining town, Audrey is the oldest of four girls. The house is a shack. The food is sparse and the family is dirt poor. This story is the real life tale of the author. She chose to give voice to the story through her eldest sister, and the book is written from her perspective.
Scrawny from lack of food and illness, Audrey looks at the world through eyes that need large glasses and her awkwardness defines her as a crumbly, skinny, nail biting girl who longs for security. She asks for little of life. She simply would like things to be better, for the family to have food and decent housing, and for a mother who is not depressed and a father who is not alcoholic.
This book is depressing. It is 145 pages of raw sadness.
It is well written and I recommended it. Read it though on a sunny day, sit in your chair surrounded by warmth and give thanks for the blessings you have in the realization that many do not have even the basic necessities.
Scrawny from lack of food and illness, Audrey looks at the world through eyes that need large glasses and her awkwardness defines her as a crumbly, skinny, nail biting girl who longs for security. She asks for little of life. She simply would like things to be better, for the family to have food and decent housing, and for a mother who is not depressed and a father who is not alcoholic.
This book is depressing. It is 145 pages of raw sadness.
It is well written and I recommended it. Read it though on a sunny day, sit in your chair surrounded by warmth and give thanks for the blessings you have in the realization that many do not have even the basic necessities.
September 5, 2008
This autobiographical story is about a family so poor that many times I wanted to reach in and give the kids food or clothing or books or crayons or paper. Made me once again grateful for all the things I had when I was growing up. Audrey, the narrator, speaks in the dialect of the area, which helps bring the southern Virginia coal mining camp setting vividly to life. I especially liked the descriptions of the one-room school and the teacher, Miss Stairus, who had such a positive impact on so many of her pupils. This book is a quick read, which I highly recommend for upper elementary on up.
January 4, 2011
I read this one in one day. I enjoyed its setting and characters. It would give well to do kids insight into what life is like for very poor kids.
August 4, 2024
Short & sweet
February 4, 2009
This is based on the true story of a tragedy that happened to the White family in 1948. Ruth White, the author, reconstructed the events of their lives on the Jewell Valley coal camp with the help of her sisters' memories, and told from the perspective of her oldest sister, Audrey.
1. This is going to be hard to sell. There isn't as much plot development as there is general description of their lives. She uses words and phrases like "before I was borned" and "worsh" and "orta" to reflect the accent in Virginia, which would make it harder for some kids to read.
2. It felt like reading a historical renactment -- where the characters know what life is like now, and are trying to relate the differences to what life is like back then. The narrator doesn't come out and say that today we have indoor bathrooms, but the way she describes the outhouse it's like she knows that they aren't common now.
3. This is a really good description from the perspective of a child of life in company housing. They have scrips to use at the company store, they have heard tales of coal miners being buried alive, they see the coal miners come home unrecognizable, they don't have a Frigidaire or indoor plumbing. But with all the bleakness, they still have regular childhood issues -- bullies, dreams, favorite teachers, favorite candy, best friends, favorite clothes and each other.
4. The title, Little Audrey, comes from a comic strip about the shortest girl in the world -Audrey- who finds herself in terrible situations, and ends up laughing at the end of them. Audrey White learns to appreciate Little Audrey in the end.
1. This is going to be hard to sell. There isn't as much plot development as there is general description of their lives. She uses words and phrases like "before I was borned" and "worsh" and "orta" to reflect the accent in Virginia, which would make it harder for some kids to read.
2. It felt like reading a historical renactment -- where the characters know what life is like now, and are trying to relate the differences to what life is like back then. The narrator doesn't come out and say that today we have indoor bathrooms, but the way she describes the outhouse it's like she knows that they aren't common now.
3. This is a really good description from the perspective of a child of life in company housing. They have scrips to use at the company store, they have heard tales of coal miners being buried alive, they see the coal miners come home unrecognizable, they don't have a Frigidaire or indoor plumbing. But with all the bleakness, they still have regular childhood issues -- bullies, dreams, favorite teachers, favorite candy, best friends, favorite clothes and each other.
4. The title, Little Audrey, comes from a comic strip about the shortest girl in the world -Audrey- who finds herself in terrible situations, and ends up laughing at the end of them. Audrey White learns to appreciate Little Audrey in the end.
April 25, 2012
This book is about a family in a coal mining community in the 40’s. Written through the narration of Audrey, the oldest daughter of four, the last weeks before her father’s tragic death are described as she continues to grow morally and emotionally.While reading Little Audrey I was immediately thrown into a different world. It was challenging my own thoughts of how people grew up years ago when coal mining was a means of staying out of poverty. The book makes you reflect on what we have now as a society compared to what we didn’t back then. I feel the most intriguing part is that the book made me ask how many people are still living in a similar situation where ends are barely getting met while those around me are doing just fine. This is a wonderful book to relate in a classroom about differences in the world that are not just in another country, but happened in our own and how those in these situations dealt with their emotions.
December 26, 2008
Another poignant story from this amazing author! White pulls another event from her own life and crafts a story so strong and so true I felt I was living it myself. She continues to be one of my favorite authors.
In 1948 Audrey White and her three younger sisters (the three pigs) are living in a coal mining camp in southwestern Virginia with their parents. Despite recurring waves of severe depression Mommy manages to scrape together meals and just enough change to treat the girls to a movie each Saturday night. Daddy works the mines but spends most of the company scrips and his free time getting drunk. Eleven year old Audrey, thin and weak from scarlet fever, begins to heal physically and emotionally. As she grows stronger her eyes are opened to the possibility of a better life.
But, sometimes life gets worse before it gets better. Sometimes a tragedy is a blessing.
In 1948 Audrey White and her three younger sisters (the three pigs) are living in a coal mining camp in southwestern Virginia with their parents. Despite recurring waves of severe depression Mommy manages to scrape together meals and just enough change to treat the girls to a movie each Saturday night. Daddy works the mines but spends most of the company scrips and his free time getting drunk. Eleven year old Audrey, thin and weak from scarlet fever, begins to heal physically and emotionally. As she grows stronger her eyes are opened to the possibility of a better life.
But, sometimes life gets worse before it gets better. Sometimes a tragedy is a blessing.
January 10, 2009
Historical fiction based closely on White's own childhood, told from the perspective of her older sister, Audrey. The family lived in a coal mining camp with an alcoholic father who spent the hard-earned scrips on drinking and gambling, leaving the mother to creatively provide food and supplies for the four girls (a 5th younger sister died earlier). Despite the hardships, their is humor and hope. A family photo of the five girls and mother is a welcome addition.
March 9, 2009
I have to say I really liked Audrey's voice. Normally I can't stand books written in dialect, but this provided an authentic Appalachian twang and it wasn't overdone. This is a good enough story for 9- to 12-year-old girls and might be useful if a school class was doing a unit on Appalachia. However it seemed kind of dull to me; not a whole lot happened in it. Even the ending seemed anticlimactic. But I still think kids would like it.
February 27, 2009
The author based the novel on her own family's experience living in a remote coal mining town. Audrey, Ruth's oldest sister, is portrayed with great sympathy. The family's hard life is heartbreaking but gave the author a fascinating subject.
July 28, 2010
Great for adults, a lovely memoir. Sadly, low kid appeal; one of those kid lit written for adults books.
March 1, 2018
I thought for certain after reading the prologue that this would be a great book. Ruth White is a great author, and this is her fictionalized memoir of her family’s hard life in an Appalachia coal mining company town. The story’s good, but not as sad or heartwarming as I thought it might be.
White sets the story in 1948, with her sixth-grade sister Audrey as narrator. That gives her the opportunity to have some fun with her own childhood. Ruth is the baby of the family, a six-year-old dervish who can’t always be bothered to put her clothes on before she bolts out the door. She’s my family favorite.
I like Audrey too. She’s old enough to know just how little their script can buy at the company store, and she already has hopes to escape. She also knows how angry their dad, John Ed, can be. He spends a good chunk of his salary on liquor. By the time he’s done, there’s not enough left for food for the week. My problem with this is that I’m not sure myself how mean John Ed can be. Audrey says he beats her mom, and he’s fearsome enough to make eight-year-old Yvonne hide under the bed. But there isn’t much evidence beyond a bit of shouting. John Ed isn’t downtrodden enough to sympathize with. And he’s not mean enough to inspire the kind of revulsion that would give the story more energy.
I also wish there was more sense of scene. It’s reasonable to accept that Audrey can’t say much about the work in the mines. But she doesn’t have much to say about the natural features of the land either. Her vision doesn’t extend much beyond the road that leads from the general store to school and her home. After all, it wouldn’t make much sense for Audrey to idealize her life.
White sets the story in 1948, with her sixth-grade sister Audrey as narrator. That gives her the opportunity to have some fun with her own childhood. Ruth is the baby of the family, a six-year-old dervish who can’t always be bothered to put her clothes on before she bolts out the door. She’s my family favorite.
I like Audrey too. She’s old enough to know just how little their script can buy at the company store, and she already has hopes to escape. She also knows how angry their dad, John Ed, can be. He spends a good chunk of his salary on liquor. By the time he’s done, there’s not enough left for food for the week. My problem with this is that I’m not sure myself how mean John Ed can be. Audrey says he beats her mom, and he’s fearsome enough to make eight-year-old Yvonne hide under the bed. But there isn’t much evidence beyond a bit of shouting. John Ed isn’t downtrodden enough to sympathize with. And he’s not mean enough to inspire the kind of revulsion that would give the story more energy.
I also wish there was more sense of scene. It’s reasonable to accept that Audrey can’t say much about the work in the mines. But she doesn’t have much to say about the natural features of the land either. Her vision doesn’t extend much beyond the road that leads from the general store to school and her home. After all, it wouldn’t make much sense for Audrey to idealize her life.
November 28, 2018
This book takes place in 1948 and is told from the perspective of a young girl named Audrey who lives with her family in a coal camp in Virginia. When the story begins, Audrey discusses how she came down with scarlet fever and was slowly working on her recovery. Due to the illness, Audrey was fragile and small, and the kids called her names such as “skeleton girl.” This made my heart ache for Audrey and it made me sad to reflect on similar situations that occur in real life. One part of the book that stood out to me however, was when Audrey’s dad asked what she would wish for. Now, Audrey and her father did not necessarily get along due to the fact that he was an alcoholic. Responding to her father, Audrey states that she would wish for her family to live better than they do. When I read this, I stopped reading for a second because I was a little caught off guard. It made me feel sad that a child would wish for a better life, as I believe every child should experience nothing but good. Each time I turned the page of this book, I was taken back by another shocking experience that Little Audrey endured which made it difficult to set down!
January 14, 2018
This is a heartbreaking story of life as it was for Little Audrey. It's just a sad story and I didn't find anything inspirational about it :( I think it's sad that life was better when her father was not around. I think it's sad that life was harder than it had to be because he used the money that should have been used to feed his family for his excessive drinking. I think it's sad that for life to get better for them, he had to die. That is just sad on every level. Even the ending doesn't tell how life got better...it is just them leaving the home they can no longer live in because he's dead and isn't working in the mines anymore so they can't stay there.
I look at all the other reviews of four and five stars and I actually feel somewhat guilty for thinking what I think of this book....this is someone's story. This one wasn't for me :(
I look at all the other reviews of four and five stars and I actually feel somewhat guilty for thinking what I think of this book....this is someone's story. This one wasn't for me :(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2017
Twelve-year-old Audrey lives in a mining camp with her three other sisters and her parents. Her mother is trying to deal with the death of a seven-month-old from spinal meningitis and her father is just trying to deal with life as a coal miner. Life gets more complicated for the family when tragedy strikes shortly after the beginning of the summer and life for Audrey and her sisters will never be the same again.
November 19, 2019
Little Audrey
Ruth White
First published 2008/ 146 pages
I really enjoyed this book! I was apprehensive at first because I don't enjoy historical fiction; but, the story opened up my mind. My favorite part of the book was the way the author wrote words. Throughout the story, the author wrote words "incorrectly" that way the reader can understand the dialect of the characters. In my classroom, I could use this book to discuss different people's home situations.
Ruth White
First published 2008/ 146 pages
I really enjoyed this book! I was apprehensive at first because I don't enjoy historical fiction; but, the story opened up my mind. My favorite part of the book was the way the author wrote words. Throughout the story, the author wrote words "incorrectly" that way the reader can understand the dialect of the characters. In my classroom, I could use this book to discuss different people's home situations.
March 10, 2022
This has been in my middle school library for a couple of years and hasn't circulated. I finally picked it up to read. It was a great little book. I now can try and get some of my students reading it. It is based on the author's life. The author made the main character her older sister. She brought to life a way of life that many still know and live.
Alcoholism
poverty
Mining
bullies
Sickness
Death of a sibling
Death of a parent
Alcoholism
poverty
Mining
bullies
Sickness
Death of a sibling
Death of a parent
February 28, 2018
This is a short book, but worth reading if you like history based on someone's real life, someone you've never heard of, that is.
If you are not from the southern part of the United States, you may not enjoy the dialect, but I am, so I thought it was okay.
It's a great coming-of-age story.
If you are not from the southern part of the United States, you may not enjoy the dialect, but I am, so I thought it was okay.
It's a great coming-of-age story.
February 1, 2019
I read think book in 2016 I think, and I did really like it.
August 1, 2019
This was an honest and heartfelt story about true hardships, and the strength you learn to have while growing up, and the strength you can gain from family in times of sadness.
March 3, 2023
The book was good, but it was not quite my style. Would definitely recommend it to someone who is looking for a book that is easy to read and quicker to finnish.
January 12, 2025
Short story of life of coal miners family hardships. 1948 written, quick read.
August 18, 2026
Told in the voice of the author's 11 year old sister, this is a short sweet book about the challenges of growing up poor in a dysfunctional family. Well told, and an easy read.
December 2, 2013
This book is about a little girl who is living in Jewell Valley, Virginia. The city is a coal mining camp for families of the coal miners. Audrey is an eleven year old and recently is recovering from the scarlet fever which has made her very skinny. The book is written from the perspective of Audrey who is the real author’s older sister. Audrey’s mom is trying to recover from losing a baby while her dad is a drunk who leaves little money for the family for food. Audrey has three younger sisters and they are all trying to live at ends meet. Throughout the book, the reader experiences what life was like for the families of coal miners back in 1948. This book provides pictures of Audrey and her family; this is a great strength for this book because the reader has images to relate to the story being told. When you read books that are non-fiction, it is hard to relate to the characters or imagine how real the story actually is. What I would consider a weakness for this book is how it is written. This book is about a very different era in time and that can sometimes be hard for students to show interest because they might think it is boring.
This book demonstrates the criteria for Notable Books for a Global Society by demonstrating unique language and style, honors and celebrates diversity and meets criteria of quality for the genre. Audrey’s family goes through a tragedy when their father dies. The whole community comes together to support the family of a big loss. Many of the families bring them food even when they can barley feed themselves. Even in times of desperate measures, families are still helping families even when everyone is struggling just the same. I think the author does a great job of narrating through Audrey. Even though the author is not Audrey and Audrey is actually her older sister in real life, she still thoroughly explains her experiences through thought and words. The reader can believe that Audrey is the one actually telling the story. She uses language that is age and time appropriate which makes sense since she lived through this era of time. I think the author gives the voice of Audrey a great sense of depth that allows the reader to relate to her right off the back. I think this book follows very well with the genre of historical fiction. The key criteria of a historical fiction book include accuracy, events, language, culture and dress (Tunnels & Jacobs, 2012). All of these key elements are portrayed during the time period. The events that happen throughout the story are accurate and believable. The book is very accurate in all of these qualities.
This is the book we chose to use in our classroom because we felt that it best demonstrated the criteria for a Notable Book for a Global Society. We feel that this book would best appeal to the students because some students could probably relate to this story like how her dad dies and the community comes together to support her family. Loss is a very common when it comes to students in the classroom. Eventually they will all experience loss so this book could help them open up about it or prepare them for it. It is also a pretty easy read whether the teacher reads it out loud to the class or the class individually reads it to themselves. The book is also in first person through Audrey so that way students can see where she is coming from and can see her point of view.
This book demonstrates the criteria for Notable Books for a Global Society by demonstrating unique language and style, honors and celebrates diversity and meets criteria of quality for the genre. Audrey’s family goes through a tragedy when their father dies. The whole community comes together to support the family of a big loss. Many of the families bring them food even when they can barley feed themselves. Even in times of desperate measures, families are still helping families even when everyone is struggling just the same. I think the author does a great job of narrating through Audrey. Even though the author is not Audrey and Audrey is actually her older sister in real life, she still thoroughly explains her experiences through thought and words. The reader can believe that Audrey is the one actually telling the story. She uses language that is age and time appropriate which makes sense since she lived through this era of time. I think the author gives the voice of Audrey a great sense of depth that allows the reader to relate to her right off the back. I think this book follows very well with the genre of historical fiction. The key criteria of a historical fiction book include accuracy, events, language, culture and dress (Tunnels & Jacobs, 2012). All of these key elements are portrayed during the time period. The events that happen throughout the story are accurate and believable. The book is very accurate in all of these qualities.
This is the book we chose to use in our classroom because we felt that it best demonstrated the criteria for a Notable Book for a Global Society. We feel that this book would best appeal to the students because some students could probably relate to this story like how her dad dies and the community comes together to support her family. Loss is a very common when it comes to students in the classroom. Eventually they will all experience loss so this book could help them open up about it or prepare them for it. It is also a pretty easy read whether the teacher reads it out loud to the class or the class individually reads it to themselves. The book is also in first person through Audrey so that way students can see where she is coming from and can see her point of view.
December 9, 2014
This book is about a young girl named Audrey who lives with her family in a coal mining camp. Audrey is a sickly looking girl who has suffered monumental weight loss and damaged eyesight due to her recent bout with scarlet fever. Since most of the family’s money goes to support her alcoholic Father’s habit, her and her sisters are often hungry and it doesn’t look like she’ll be gaining weight anytime soon. However, when her mother snaps out of one of her common dazed states, she uses all of the money to buy groceries and with bellies full, Audrey begins to wish that her father won’t come home. Unfortunately, one day Audrey’s wish comes true when her father gets into a fatal accident while driving drunk with his buddies. But the sorrowful event that initially burdens the family with grief will also provide new opportunities for betterment and the chance for healing from the past. The book was definitely a piece of quality literature just by the general standards of having a good plot, setting, and characters. It was a very engaging read and the plot had a lot of conflict, tension, and mystery in it. There was the poverty of the family, the bullies from school, the alcoholic father who was physically and verbally abusive, and the dazed mother who seemed to suffer from depression, but for most of the book you just don’t know why. The author used such great description that as a reader you could literally imagine what the mining camp must have looked like, and smelled like, and how the people looked and behaved. The book’s discussion and portrayal of grief and of the passing of a loved one was also realistic and gave great unexpected insights. However, the book’s main topic was what really stood out as unique – there are not many books about life inside coal mining camps. Overall, the book is very well rounded and there are no weaknesses that really stand out. Perhaps, some readers would critique how the author gave little information about when Audrey’s father’s drinking problem actually began and what caused it, but it seems that this was a strategy of understatement that was left up to the reader to consider and postulate. The main themes of the book are poverty, family problems, friendship, and grief. I appreciated that the book was so raw and honest when it came to the grief and experiences of the family after Audrey's father died. This book could be used to teach about coal mining camps in the mid 1900s. I would recommend this book for 4th-6th grade students.
White, R. (2008). Little Audrey. New York, NY: Douglas & McIntyre Ltd.
White, R. (2008). Little Audrey. New York, NY: Douglas & McIntyre Ltd.
September 8, 2011
For some reason, I find it hard to resist children's novels packaged in a small or square format. Perhaps publishers deliberately present certain kinds of literary works in this way-- I don't know. Two books that I picked up recently met my high expectations for books of their size, and I was struck by the similarity in their content, though the stories are set years apart.
In Listening for Crickets, a contemporary novel, Jake is a fifth grader who can barely read and has gotten into a couple of fights in school. Dad can't keep a job and drinks too much, but his real problem is anger management. Mom worries about her weight and the bills, and tends to blame Dad, but has a role, too, in the fighting the couple can't seem to avoid. Jake's relationship with seven year old Cassie, who suffers from asthma and shares his room, is more like that of a parent than an older brother. In compelling first person, present tense narrative, author David Gifaldi captures the fear, tension, embarrassment, and constant hypervigilance experienced by children in a family situation that is not so uncommon, and their need to create safe space. Without ever being judgmental, the story reveals class issues from the inside, and builds to a conclusion that brings some relief-- but there are no easy answers.
Ruth White's Little Audrey takes place in a coal mining camp in southwest Virginia in 1948. Based on the family in which White grew up, it is also told in first person, present tense, from the point of view of White's older sister Audrey, the oldest of four living children, and introduced by a photograph of their mother and five daughters (including the baby who died before this story begins). With generous details, White paints a vivid picture of the culture, customs, and hardships of that life, including another father who drinks too much, a mother who's often emotionally unavailable due to depression, and engaging eleven year old Audrey, trying to get enough to eat, avoid the class bullies, and have a few dreams for a better life. While Gifaldi's Jake made up stories about dragons to distract his younger sister from their problems, White's Audrey escapes in reading books. Like the other book I've read by Ruth White, The City Rose (written when she was Ruth Miller), the story encompasses both tragedy and hope.
August 28, 2009
This was a tiny, tiny book for this age of kids to read. Only 146 pages, so no wonder I finished it in the same day as when I started. Don't get me wrong, it was a really interesting story, but I just wonder if the kids in grades 7-9 that the Truman list is for will respond well to such a young story. The main character is Audrey, and she is actually the real older sister of the author. So it is a semi-autobiographical account of the author's life as a child in coal mine town. Audrey is 11 years old, and it is May, the end of the school year. Their father works in the coal mine, and in the past was also in the army until they sent him home saying he had 4 kids that needed him to be home. It actually sounds like the family was kind of better off, financially mostly, when he was in the army. Her father drank a lot, her mother was left home with the kids mostly. There were 3 other girls besides Audrey, that she called the "little Piggies". And there had been another baby that had died before it was a year old from spinal meningitis.
The fact that it is a true story will probably intrigue some readers, but it is told from a younger age than the kids who read this award nominee list, and often that can put this age off from reading something.
I also have to say that I read a book by the same author, Ruth White, for the Mark Twain list last year. It was called Way Down Deep, and it actually was one of my least favorites, yet made it to the list anyway. I liked this book better, but we'll see what happens.This review was originally posted on Lisa Loves Literature
The fact that it is a true story will probably intrigue some readers, but it is told from a younger age than the kids who read this award nominee list, and often that can put this age off from reading something.
I also have to say that I read a book by the same author, Ruth White, for the Mark Twain list last year. It was called Way Down Deep, and it actually was one of my least favorites, yet made it to the list anyway. I liked this book better, but we'll see what happens.This review was originally posted on Lisa Loves Literature
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December 1, 2014This book is a shining example of a multicultural book. It shows readers that a book doesn’t have to be able a far off country or people of color to represent a different culture. This book tells the story of Audrey and her family who live in Jewell Valley, in the late 1940’s. Jewell Valley is home to the Jewell Valley Coal Company, where her father John Ed works long hard days in the dark damp coal mine. The people of this coal based town do not live a life of luxury, in fact most of the families live in poverty, living from paycheck to paycheck just trying to get by. After contracting scarlet fever, Audrey lost a lot of weight, and was in need of glasses. Now as she is recovering, she struggles with the fact that she looks different than the other people in her town. The hardships of their everyday life begin to catch up to them and they have to face the harsh realities of their situation. Audrey’s mom is struggling to recover from the loss of a child, and her father spends all of their extra money and then some on liquor, coming back to the house drunk more often than not. This book gives the reader a snapshot into the tough life of these coal mining families, and helps you experience this very different culture.
In the classroom, this book would be a great book to read aloud together as a class. It introduces students to a completely different way of life, while still allowing students to relate to the topic at hand. This book would be good for students in 3-6 grade. Other teaching idea's would be to have the students create a creative response or have a group discussion about the book.
White, R. (2008). Little Audrey. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux.
In the classroom, this book would be a great book to read aloud together as a class. It introduces students to a completely different way of life, while still allowing students to relate to the topic at hand. This book would be good for students in 3-6 grade. Other teaching idea's would be to have the students create a creative response or have a group discussion about the book.
White, R. (2008). Little Audrey. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux.
October 12, 2014
I thought for certain after reading the prologue that this would be a great book. Ruth White is a great author, and this is her fictionalized memoir of her family’s hard life in an Appalachia coal mining company town. The story’s good, but not as sad or heartwarming as I thought it might be.
White sets the story in 1948, with her sixth-grade sister Audrey as narrator. That gives her the opportunity to have some fun with her own childhood. Ruth is the baby of the family, a six-year-old dervish who can’t always be bothered to put her clothes on before she bolts out the door. She’s my family favorite.
I like Audrey too. She’s old enough to know just how little their script can buy at the company store, and she already has hopes to escape. She also knows how angry their dad, John Ed, can be. He spends a good chunk of his salary on liquor. By the time he’s done, there’s not enough left for food for the week. My problem with this is that I’m not sure myself how mean John Ed can be. Audrey says he beats her mom, and he’s fearsome enough to make eight-year-old Yvonne hide under the bed. But there isn’t much evidence beyond a bit of shouting. John Ed isn’t downtrodden enough to sympathize with. And he’s not mean enough to inspire the kind of revulsion that would give the story more energy.
I also wish there was more sense of scene. It’s reasonable to accept that Audrey can’t say much about the work in the mines. But she doesn’t have much to say about the natural features of the land either. Her vision doesn’t extend much beyond the road that leads from the general store to school and her home. Then again, it wouldn’t make much sense for Audrey to idealize her life.
White sets the story in 1948, with her sixth-grade sister Audrey as narrator. That gives her the opportunity to have some fun with her own childhood. Ruth is the baby of the family, a six-year-old dervish who can’t always be bothered to put her clothes on before she bolts out the door. She’s my family favorite.
I like Audrey too. She’s old enough to know just how little their script can buy at the company store, and she already has hopes to escape. She also knows how angry their dad, John Ed, can be. He spends a good chunk of his salary on liquor. By the time he’s done, there’s not enough left for food for the week. My problem with this is that I’m not sure myself how mean John Ed can be. Audrey says he beats her mom, and he’s fearsome enough to make eight-year-old Yvonne hide under the bed. But there isn’t much evidence beyond a bit of shouting. John Ed isn’t downtrodden enough to sympathize with. And he’s not mean enough to inspire the kind of revulsion that would give the story more energy.
I also wish there was more sense of scene. It’s reasonable to accept that Audrey can’t say much about the work in the mines. But she doesn’t have much to say about the natural features of the land either. Her vision doesn’t extend much beyond the road that leads from the general store to school and her home. Then again, it wouldn’t make much sense for Audrey to idealize her life.
January 28, 2009
Author Ruth White grew up in Virginia, and uses her family's years in the coal mining camp as the setting for her fictionalized memoir. Told from her older sister Audrey's perspective, White details her family's struggles with poverty and an alcoholic father with a violent temper. The time spent in Jewell Valley was a dark period in the Whites' life, bookended by the death of one child and a second family tragedy later on. In between, Audrey is an awkward 12-year-old, skinny and bespectacled due to a recent bout of scarlet fever, finding her own place while friends drift away and family ... continues to be family.
Food plays a prominent role; there are loving descriptions of the big, filling meals that appeared only sporadically on the table, and the author clearly has fond memories of the meals her mother was able to provide for the four sisters. Little Audrey is an unflinching portrait of a 1948 coal mining town, and a hard, though honest, look at a family's struggle to make ends meet. There's not a lot of plot or action--this really is a slice-of-life story, rather than coming-of-age or something more situational--so it'll be a hard sell to middle schoolers, but they'll be lured in by its brevity when the "historical fiction" assignment rolls around. Some of them will even like it.
Food plays a prominent role; there are loving descriptions of the big, filling meals that appeared only sporadically on the table, and the author clearly has fond memories of the meals her mother was able to provide for the four sisters. Little Audrey is an unflinching portrait of a 1948 coal mining town, and a hard, though honest, look at a family's struggle to make ends meet. There's not a lot of plot or action--this really is a slice-of-life story, rather than coming-of-age or something more situational--so it'll be a hard sell to middle schoolers, but they'll be lured in by its brevity when the "historical fiction" assignment rolls around. Some of them will even like it.
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