Una and Grubstreet

by Prudence Andrew

An eleven-year-old girl, lonely because her mother and baby brother are dead, kidnaps a baby she thinks is neglected and hides out with it in an empty house.

141 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Her historical novels in publication order:

1. The Hooded Falcon
2. Ordeal By Silence
3. A Question of Choice
4. The Earthworms, also published as The Constant Star
5. A Sparkle From the Coal
6. A New Creature

Andrew's first series of books for children follows the adventures of a boy named Ginger and his friends--all working-class kids from a variety of ethnic backgrounds who live in the city. Ray notes in Twentieth-Century Children's Writers that, when the 'Ginger' series was first published in the 1960s, it was among the earliest 'to include black characters as an integral part of the story.' In Ginger among the Pigeons, the fourth book in the series, Ginger and his friends help old Mr. Bean protect his champion homing pigeon from a competitor who will do anything to win."

Reviews

[Louise Hartgen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am now long past childhood, but I've reached the age when I love to go back and rediscover the books I loved as a child. At a certain time in my life, this was one of my total go-to books. It had everything. A troubled, introverted little girl with long blonde hair, that last was something I always wanted, I already was the first two, it had friendship, love for a toy, parents, family, a baby, and a story that taught me a lesson I have really tried to profit from ever since: you can't ever judge people by what you think you see on the outside.

Una lives with her father, lonely after the death of her mother, she becomes increasingly unhappy as she sees less and less of her father and more and more of the far too loquacious Mrs Buckram, who just cannot stop talking about her neighbours, the socially inferior Heaven family. The more Una hears about the Heavens, the more obsessed she becomes with the Heaven baby, he begins to take the place in her heart of the baby brother who died with her mother. When Una gets a look at the Heavens she makes a shocking discovery, but it isn't the last she is to make. Her father is going away, but not on a business trip as he told her. His trip opens up fearful new possibilities that don't bear thinking about. Una's only friend Lee cannot get permission from his parents to take her with them when they go on holiday to Wales. Una grows more and more terrified that soon she will be left all alone with "Yackety Mrs Buckram" and her one constant. Grubstreet. The little wooden bear she always has with her. More than just a toy, the voice of her common sense and conscience. But can Grubstreet prevent Una from making what could turn out to be a really catastrophic mistake?

This book was first published in 1972. read now it might , probably would, be thought incredibly stereotypical, I don't know. At a time when a lot of children were reading Heidi, Enid Blyton and similar, this book was really quite cutting edge, dealing with some quite deep issues, and, as I said in the beginning, I learned some valuable life lessons from it. Sadly I cannot now find it in a format I can read, but I would love to read it again, to see what I would make of it forty years on. As you see, I can still remember it vividly all these years later.

[Joana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realise this was a children's book when I bought it. Regardless, it's perfectly readable by adults. Probably more appropriate actually because it is quite sad.

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

My sixth grade teacher read this 1972 YA novel to my class, in 1983. I spent the majority of my adult life searching for the book (pre Internet) and finally purchased an old copy in 2016. I took it from my bookshelf yesterday to read, at last! I am perplexed as to why this book was read to a classroom of young, impressionable children, as the content is not pleasant, however in the year it was written, and the year it was read to us, the gestures and behaviours would've been considered socially acceptable. I am horrified by the content as an adult yet as a child I simply enjoyed it for the story, having yet no comprehension of stereotyping.

[Shamaim Zia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book suitable for early readers but the plot is a bit underdeveloped. In general it was an okay-ish book.