The Ballad of Lucy Whipple [Paperback]

Karen Cushman (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Dear Gram and Grampop,
Please do not address yours truly as California anymore, California Morning Whipple being a foolish name for a duck much less a girl. I call myself Lucy now. I cannot hate California and be California. I know you will understand.

California doesn't suit Lucy Whipple -- not the name, not the place. But moving out West to Lucky Diggins, California, was her mama's dream-come-true. And now her brother, Butte, and sisters, Prairie and Sierra, seem to be Westerners at heart, too. For Lucy, Lucky Diggins is hardly a town at all -- just a bunch of ramshackle tents and tobacco-spitting miners. Even the gold her mama claimed was just lying around in the fields isn't panning out. Worst of all, there's no lending library! Dag diggety!

So Lucy vows to be plain miserable until she can hightail it back East where she belongs. But Lucy California Morning Whipple may be in for a surprise -- because home is a lot closer than she thinks...

When California Morning Whipple's widowed mother uproots her family from their comfortable Massachusetts environs and moves them to a rough mining camp called Lucky Diggins in the Sierras, California Morning resents the upheaval. Desperately wanting to control something in her own life, she decides to be called Lucy, and as Lucy she grows and changes in her strange and challenging new environment. Here Karen Cushman helps the American Gold Rush spring to colorful life, just as she did for medieval England in her previous two books, Catherine, Called Birdy and The Midwife's Apprentice, which won Newbery Honor status and a Newbery Medal respectively.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When California Morning Whipple's widowed mother uproots her family from their comfortable Massachusetts environs and moves them to a rough mining camp called Lucky Diggins in the Sierras, California Morning resents the upheaval. Desperately wanting to control something in her own life, she decides to be called Lucy, and as Lucy she grows and changes in her strange and challenging new environment. Here Karen Cushman helps the American Gold Rush spring to colorful life, just as she did for medieval England in her previous two books, Catherine, Called Birdy and The Midwife's Apprentice, which won Newbery Honor status and a Newbery Medal respectively. For ages 8-12. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

PW gave a starred review to this gold-rush novel by Newbery Medalist Cushman, calling it "a coming-of-age story rich with historical flavor." Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 218 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (April 3, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064406849
• ISBN-13: 978-0064406840
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #173,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Karen Cushman was born in Chicago, Illinois and lives now on Vashon Island west of Seattle, Washington. She received an M.A. in human behavior and one in museum studies. Ms. Cushman has had a lifelong interest in history. She says, "I grew tired of hearing about kings, princes, generals, presidents. I wanted to know what ordinary life was like for ordinary young people in other times." Research into medieval English history and culture led to the writing of her first two novels, the Newbery Honor book CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY and the Newbery Medal-winner THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE. She is also the author of MATILDA BONE, THE BALLAD OF LUCY WHIPPLE, RODZINA, and most recently ALCHEMY AND MEGGY SWANN.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Karen Cushman's Best, February 24, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (Paperback)

When I was nearly finished with LUCY WHIPPLE my teacher told me that I might be assighned to that book for a book report. But that would have been fine with me, because I enjoyed it so much that I would've been glad to read it again.

LUCY WHIPPLE is set in the mid 1800's, the time of The California Gold Rush. It is about a girl whos mother decides to move from Massachusets to California to search for gold. Unfortunately, Lucy hates the town (Lucky Diggins) they move to, and wants to move back to Massachusets.

This book was funny, original, yet it had some features that every book must have. LUCY WHIPPLE had some sad parts that made me cry. But all books must have something sad. Some authors don't write the sad parts very well, but Cushman did a fabulus job. The ending suprised me, and I'm glad Cushman chose to end it like that. LUCY WHIPPLE is definately on my list of "Books That Everyone Must Read".

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Karen Cushman Does It Again!, July 21, 2003

By 

Allyn "pianogirl" (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (Paperback)

I'll admit it-since I'm in high school, I'm really quite beyond the "9-12" age range this book targets. But "The Ballad of Lucy Whipple" is just such great fun that the "9-12" categorization should be completely ignored.

Twelve-year-old Lucy Whipple is anything but happy. After her father and youngest sister die, Lucy's mother decides to move herself, Lucy, and siblings Butte, Sierra, and Prairie to a strange and savage Lucky Diggins, California that is right in the middle of the Gold Rush. Deprived of her grandparents, stability, books, and cleanliness, Lucy is desperate to return to her Massachusetts hometown and live with her grandparents. But then somehow, she begins to put down roots in Lucky Diggins, and it becomes more of a home to her than she ever thought possible...

"The Ballad of Lucy Whipple" is as faultless of a so-called "children's book" as you're going to get. Readers will find a lively and interesting heroine in Lucy, and while they may not exactly sympathize with her martyr-like attitude at the book's beginning, they will certainly want to keep reading to find out exactly what happens to Lucy and her family. Humor, tragedy, and everyday life are always attention-keeping in this book; Karen Cushman does a first-rate job of incorporating history into the story-making the historical info seem part of the story rather than simply a boring aspect of the novel. Finally, a well-done and thought-provoking ending cap off Lucy's chronicle.

In the same manner of her previous historical fiction ("Catherine Called Birdy" and "The Midwife's Apprentice"), Cushman effortlessly writes educational AND entertaining tales of ordinary girls in extraordinary times. This is historical fiction at its best.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Walking Lucy's path, October 24, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (Paperback)

I think that "The Ballad of Lucy Whipple" is a very good book because of how clearly the author shows Lucy's personality within the book. Such as when Lucy states "Mama, that gold you claimed is lying in the fields around here must be hidden by all the lizards, dead leaves, and mule droppings, for I can't see a thing worth picking up and taking home." Lucy hates California at first, until she understands the true beauty of it at the end of the book.

I also enjoyed how the story sucks you into a whirlepool of adventure and another world so that you can put yourself in Lucy's shoes and walk her path in the story. Like when the author writes, "Small tents, shacks, and brush-covered lean-tos huddled along one bank of the river." and
"The air, heavy with heaty and dust, burned my nose and stung my eyes."

I recommend this book to people who love adventure, a little humor, and who aren't afraid of history. The Ballad of Lucy Whipple makes you laugh when you least expect it and gives you a taste of gold rush life.