From the Bookshelf of Retro Chapter Chicks …

The Berry Pickers

Amanda Peters

Start date: October 1, 2025

Finish date: October 31, 2025

Discussion: Buddy Reads

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of -2 topics — 758 comments total

Buddy Reads

* Buddy Reads 2025
By Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴… , Founding Retro Chick · 128 posts · 22 views

last updated Aug 03, 2025 05:15AM

* Historical Fiction Timeline Tag
By Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴… , Founding Retro Chick · 207 posts · 24 views

last updated Sep 03, 2025 05:04AM

showing 9 of 9 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Oct 12, 2024 Maureen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

A Mi’kmaq family every summer travel from Nova Scotia to Maine to pick blueberries for a living. Ruthie, four years old goes missing one day. Her six year old brother Joe was the last to see her. She is kidnapped and becomes Norma. Joe is distraught his entire life and blames himself. Her family never gave up hope that she is alive.
This is a heartbreaking story told in two perspectives, Joe’s and Norma’s.
It is a heartfelt story of family secrets, guilt, drama and grief.
A story I won’t forget.

24 likes · Like · see review

Apr 29, 2025 Book Concierge rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-club, literary-fiction, maine, native-american, racism, family, social-commentary, concierge, strong-women, indigenous

Digital audiobook narrated by Aaliya Warbus and Jordan Waunch.
5***** and a ❤

In 1962, an indigenous family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer, a family and tribal tradition. A month into the season the family’s youngest child, four-year-old Ruthie, vanishes. The last person to see her is her six-year-old brother Joe. Authorities aren’t too helpful, but other pickers join in an exhaustive search to no avail. This will haunt the family, and Joe, in particular, for Digital audiobook narrated by Aaliya Warbus and Jordan Waunch.
5***** and a ❤

In 1962, an indigenous family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer, a family and tribal tradition. A month into the season the family’s youngest child, four-year-old Ruthie, vanishes. The last person to see her is her six-year-old brother Joe. Authorities aren’t too helpful, but other pickers join in an exhaustive search to no avail. This will haunt the family, and Joe, in particular, for decades.

In Maine, a girl named Norma grows up in an affluent family. Her father is kind but distant. Her mother is overprotective and suffers from headaches. Norma is plagued by dreams which seem real to her, but which her parents and extended family insist are just the stuff of childhood imagination. But as she grows to adulthood, Norma comes to realize that her family is hiding a deep secret from her.

This was a wonderful book. The characters come alive on the page. Their hurts, joys, struggles, connections, love, tenderness, anger, frustration and pain are shown through their actions and reactions. The author uses dual narrators, Joe and Norma, to tell the story. Of course, neither is aware of the other so the truth comes out slowly and painfully through their memories and efforts to deal with the trauma of their childhood. Through Joe and Norma, the reader also learns about the families – Joe’s parents, and siblings; Norma’s parents and aunt.

Were I in Norma’s shoes, I’m not sure I could have forgiven the parents who raised me for their subterfuge. And while I may have understood the underlying reasons for my parents’ actions to at least understand, I would have an ever harder time overlooking Aunt June’s complicity in the lie. On the other hand, they clearly raised a loving and compassionate child, so there is that.

I appreciated learning more about the racism – both subtle and overt – the indigenous peoples endured.

The audiobook is narrated by two talented voice artists: Ailiaya Warbus handles those chapters narrated by Norma and Jordan Waunch takes on Joe’s chapters. This was very effective, and really brought the characters to life for me.
...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Feb 27, 2025 Celia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction-read, recommended, kindle-list, 2025-read, 2023-pub, ten-year-challenge, 2025-kindle-counted, vero-book-club, canada, supersummary-study-guide

"The Berry Pickers" by Amanda Peters is a quietly devastating debut that lingers in your mind long after the final page is turned. The novel follows the interwoven lives of a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia and a white family in Maine, connected by the disappearance of four‐year-old Ruthie during a summer berry-picking trip in 1962.

Peters masterfully employs alternating perspectives—one from Joe, the guilt-ridden brother whose life has been marked by unresolved grief, and the other from Norma, a "The Berry Pickers" by Amanda Peters is a quietly devastating debut that lingers in your mind long after the final page is turned. The novel follows the interwoven lives of a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia and a white family in Maine, connected by the disappearance of four‐year-old Ruthie during a summer berry-picking trip in 1962.

Peters masterfully employs alternating perspectives—one from Joe, the guilt-ridden brother whose life has been marked by unresolved grief, and the other from Norma, a young woman haunted by mysterious dreams and familial discrepancies.

At its core, the story is about the search for identity and belonging amid the backdrop of historical and systemic injustice. The novel examines the effects of intergenerational trauma and the marginalization of Indigenous voices, all while portraying a poignant, sometimes heartbreaking, exploration of family secrets and the human need for closure. Despite its somber themes, there is a persistent thread of hope and resilience that offers a measure of redemption to its characters.

The prose is lyrical, evoking the stark beauty of the blueberry fields and the quiet desperation of those left behind.

"The Berry Pickers" gripped me. It is an empathetic portrayal of how a single, unresolved tragedy can echo through generations, challenging its characters to confront both their personal demons and the broader injustices of their world. This novel moved me to research the bitter legacy of Canadian Forced Assimilation Practices, Nova Scotia geography, and Maine wild blueberry picking. The author resides in Annapolis Valley Nova Scotia. The center of blueberry picking in Maine is Cherryfield. The author did not make clear WHERE in these two areas the story was taking place, so I chose to picture Annapolis Valley and Cherryfield as the sites.

Throughout the book, the names mentioned were first names only. I picked the surname "Blue" for the Maine family and "Pickers" for the Mi’kmaq family.

Our book club will discuss on Mar 3. Can't wait!!

5 stars ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Jan 16, 2025 Lory Sakay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I enjoyed this tragic book. Yes, it was tragic - the main character had so many negative life experiences and then, not surprisingly became more of a "train wreck" in adulthood. This, and the main, triggering event (which I shall not spoil), made it hard to keep reading at times but it also created a larger investment in the story for me. The back and forth chapters between the siblings helped maintain my interest and further connected me to this family. Lastly, the description of the topography ...more

Like · see review

Jan 16, 2024 Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Schu rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, mysteries-of-all-kinds

Amanda Peters' debut novel is about love and loss, featuring two different societal groups of different stations. The story follows the life of Norma, a young girl who dreams of a different life and family. Norma's mother is quite disturbed by her dreams and begrudgingly agrees to have her visit a psychiatrist. Norma receives a journal on these visits where she writes about her dreams. Meanwhile, we learn about another family, one that is distraught over the loss of a child in the summer while i ...more

Like · see review