Holding Up the Earth

by Dianne E. Gray

It has been eight years since Hope’s mom died in a car accident. Eight years of shuffling from foster home to foster home. Eight years of trying to hold on to the memories that tether her to her mother. Now Sarah, Hope’s newest foster mom, has taken her from Minneapolis to spend the summer on the Nebraska farm where Sarah grew up. Hope is set adrift, anchored only by her ever-present and memory-heavy backpack. Accustomed to the clamor of city life, Hope is at first unsettled by the silence that descends over the farm each night. But listening deeply, she begins to hear the quiet: the crickets’ chirp, the windsong, the steady in and out of her own breath. Soon the silence is replaced by voices, like echoes sounding across time — the voices of girls who inhabited the old farmhouse before her. Reluctantly, Hope begins to stretch down roots in the earth and accept this new family as her own.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Coming Of Age, Teen, Historical

224 pages, Hardcover

First published August 28, 2000

Reviews

[Stephanie Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in one sitting, because I couldn’t put it down!
Hope has been shuffled from foster home to foster home since the age of six. Figuring that her time in each will be brief, she makes certain not to let herself get attached to anyone or anything. Now, at age fourteen, Hope is being taken by her latest foster mom to visit the family farm in Nebraska. She can handle it; she knows she won’t be there for long. But to Hope’s surprise, Sarah is not like any foster mother she’s ever lived with…
The author did a marvelous job of weaving the stories of three women from the past and their experiences on that Nebraska farm with Hope’s life as a foster kid. One is a pioneer daughter, another a hired hand; there is a Dust-Bowl survivor, and a child of the 60s who learned “duck and cover” techniques. I fell in love with each character and story! And the “quilt cover” design is beautiful.

[Megan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imperfect, human, honest. Unforced poetic prose. A girl who draws. A girl who struggles and feels and learns to see beauty. Really well tied up story strings.

Grabbed this book off the shelf on a whim because I liked the cover and the fact that it is set in Nebraska intrigued me. No regrets. Don't recommend to guys, probably, just cause there's a lot that's not relatable and not much that is. Or maybe not. I'm not a guy, I wouldn't know for sure. Lol

[Stephanie A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything I have ever wanted out of an amazingly crafted family-history story -- I loved how all these just-probable-enough-to-be-real twists came together to unite the generations of girls on the farm. With a foster kid twist!

[anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book really reaches out and touches your heart in all the right places to make you cry!!!

[. :♥Shelby Danielle♥: . · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like books with a twist, then read this!
Its mostly journals.
I'm not sure if they are real or fake, but seriously good!
I give it 5 *****

[Keri kunkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an awesome book!

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it a lot even though i hate diary form it was still a good book but not better than life as we knew it.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

love

[Charity Schafer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was half diary/letter, but the generational connections were fascinating, and I resonated with the women's love of their land. The setting takes place near where I live here in Nebraska. The climax and ending were heart-wrenching and the writing and title are just perfectly poetic.

This land is the house
we have always lived in.
The women,
their bones are holding up the earth.
-Linda Hogan, "Calling Myself Home"

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating easy YA book (I was attracted to the cover and picked up at a library $2/bag sale). The lives of several generations of pioneer women in Nebraska told through journals and diaries. An enjoyable historical fiction weaving the past to the present. I plan to pass this on to a reading friend.

[Sadie · Rating 3 out of 5]

50 States Reading Challenge: Nebraska

[Corinne Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

A treasured stretch of land and a lonely 14 year old named Hope lie at the heart of this exquisite story of the ties that bind us to the earth itself and to each other.

Hope has spent her life being shuffled from one foster home to the next - until she finds herself with Sarah. A kind and undemanding woman, Sarah takes Hope to her family's farm in Nebraska where, through a series of letters and journals, we come to know the former inhabitants who also loved that same plot of ground. We meet the teenage girl who helped build the original sod house, a mail order bride's daughter who comes to work the land as a hired hand and others, who found pain and hardship as well as peace and joy, under that same Nebraska sky.

The author deftly captures the voices and tones of these predecessors - I fell into their worlds so deeply that when the story switched back to Hope, I found I'd forgotten her. This isn't meant to imply that Hope's story isn't as meaningful as those who homesteaded there - what struck me about Hope's modern story is the way that Gray has woven these other loves and lives into Hope's experiences as she unknowingly tries to find a place where she truly belongs.

Without getting sentimental or sappy (the end comes right to the edge, but I think she pulls it off), Holding up the Earth deals with the issue of loosing a loved one with a gentle hand, while also inspiring in readers a love of the earth and the power of belonging. Highly recommended for teenage girls, especially.

[Dakota Smith]

Very good
My Nebraska book for my State Challenge

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book. For everyone who enjoys reading about the past. Your family’s past. Several generations of diary reading are covered here. It has been fun to read how the author blended them together. Life on the prairie at its finest. Synopsis: it has been eight years since Hope’s mom died in a car accident. Eight years of shuffling from foster home to foster home. Eight years of trying to hold on to the memories that tether her to her mother. Now Sarah, Hope’s newest foster mom, has taken her from Minneapolis to spend the summer on the Nebraska farm where Sarah grew up. Little by little she starts to listen to the voices that are all around her on the farm and starts to accept this new family as her own. If you like geneology, you will love this. There are a lot of cool things that happen. You will enjoy tracing the past as it relates to the present. Good for ages 12 and up, but adults will enjoy too. A really fresh breath of air full of courage.

[em · Rating 2 out of 5]

This land is the house
we have always lived in.
The women,
their bones are holding up the earth.
-Linda Hogan, "Calling Myself Home"

Yet another book I kept from my youth that I hadn't remembered the plot line and was interested in whether this would remain on my shelf or not.

This one I received as a nice gift when I was 10/11 from a family member since I loved reading from a very young age (an Aunt, I believe, but I can't remember which one). It had some warm-hearted parallels I think she meant to have me relate to.

I'll say it's a nice read for that particular age group --- one based off of innocence and farm life. I remember having mixed feelings in finishing this story then, as I do now. I have very much so aged-out of this book, but can appreciate the thoughtfulness in the story and the gesture from my Aunt. The genre itself is a little outside of my particular likings, but I remember it suiting me enough back then.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

foster care, families, generations, Nebraska, farm-life, attachment to land, women ...
There are lots of reasons to like this book, especially "Hope," the main character. I do have a couple of problems with the story, however, one being the use of letters to introduce Abigail. I generally like letters as part of the text, but these don't ring true; they don't sound like something a c14-year-old would write. I kept picking up a pencil to "edit" my copy (mainly crossing out statements that weren't needed and didn't seem like a teen's writing, especially given the date (1869). My second problem was keeping track of the various females who were introduced. I don't know if others have the same problem. Maybe I just wasn't concentrating. And, just maybe, keeping track doesn't matter (but I have a feeling it would enhance the story).

[Cherylann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holding up the Earth begins and ends with Hope's story. Hope is 6 years old when she and her mother are involved in an accident, and Hope survives and her mother does not. What follows for Hope is a series of foster homes. Her current foster mother, Sarah, takes her to spend the summer on the farm where Sarah grew up. The novel then explores the stories of other young women who lived on this same piece of land. As the reader learns about Abby, Rachel, Anna, and Sarah, Hope learns about herself. This is a wonderful character-driven novel.

[Anne Thomsen Lord · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really, really liked this one. I grabbed it off the shelf at Bennett Martin on a whim yesterday, and I literally couldn't put it down. I've had a fascination with pioneer women for as long as I can remember, and this book definitely fed that fascination. It told the story of the Nebraska prairie through five generations of women through letters, journals, and plain, old oral history. At the the conclusion of each woman's story, I wanted more--especially the first, Abigail, who lived near the meadow in the 1860s. I also enjoyed the women's names: Abigail, Rebecca, Anna, Sarah, and Hope.

[Roanne King · Rating 5 out of 5]

While researching historical fiction before writing my own story, this was one of the books on my YA list. I absolutely loved it! The girls in this story are strong and inspiring! If you have a young teen who loves to read, or if you just want to ponder the possibilities of your past, this is a great, easy and emotionally challenging read.

[Lora · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I loved how the author had you experience five different young women's lives. All the girls were about 14-15 years old when you heard their story, but the stories spanned from the 1800's to the present day. It reminded me of All She Ever Wanted by Lynn Austin. I would love to read more books by Dianne Gray!

[Kyla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall the Pioneer Wilder side of me liked this book and the warm female relationships and the connection to the Prairie but I'd be puzzled where to put it in a library - it's a little innocent and slow-moving for teens and some of the love/sex/body stuff is a bit much for the Juniors. I read it in an afternoon, sick, under a blanket and I propose this is the perfect way to read it.

[Tatumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy-to-read coming-of-age story told in a unique way. It spans multiple years through letters and diaries, which I really liked. It was so good, I finished it in one day! I loved the messages about the importance of love and acceptance (I'm also a sucker for stories that take place on farms lol).

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was really good, but kinda wierd. good though. kinda confusing. kept changing time periods. most of it was people telling stories or her reading Journals rather than an actual story. but still good.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what prompted me to read this. I found it dull but that is probably only because it's not my genre, I usually can't get into this kind of novel so if you want to read it, don't let my opinion change your mind.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a poignant and tender read. I loved how Dianne effortlessly wove so many important details tying the past to present. It is a touching story of love and healing and I look forward to reading more of Dianne's books.

[Laura]

A dear friend had me read the first chapter of this book for a project in liberry skool. I enjoyed it so much I read the whole thing. A foster daughter spending the summer on a Nebraska farm and reading old diaries and letters of girls who had also lived on the farm.

[Katie de Castro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mmm...it was okay the first time. But I have no desire to read it again.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely YA novel about several generations of young women growing up on the Nebraska prairie. Gentle, bittersweet, and satisfying.

[Tianna]

It was a very sad book.
I loved the nice ending.

[KrisT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice story that links several women to the days of settling on the plains in Nebraska.