Customer Reviews

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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".

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.

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.

This a wonderfully realistic book about a girl with values, a girls we can all relate to some time or another. I like this book because, mainly, of the charectors and how real it seems. I'ts almost like you are there in the gold rush with Lucy, saving up gold in a pickle crock and trying to read Ivanhoe in between washing the dishes and making dinner for a tent full of dirty men trying to strike it rich. This is good book for anyone who likes realistic fiction, and a supurb heroine who wants to go back east.

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. 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. I recommend this book to people who love adventure, a little humor, and who aren't afraid of history.

This book is especially fun to read this year, the 150th anniversary of the Calif. Gold Rush. I've read it to my 8 year-old daughter, who loved every page and is sad that it's over. We were both moved to tears several times, and had good conversations about family, and about what it must have been like then. Cushman weaves great sagas set in other times, but the themes are very relevant--her characters are well developed and sympathetic. I wish there were more--we've already read Catherine Called Birdy, but Lucy is my favorite! More!

Whenever someone asks me to recommend a good childrens' book, I always mention all three of Cushman's. (This one, Midwife's Apprentice, and Catherine, Called Birdy.) All three are written in diary form, with the main characters putting down their experiences and feelings. By the time you finish, you'll feel like the main character has become one of your best friends, and you'll be sad to say goodby.

I got this book as a gift as as soon as I saw the Author I was heavily pleased.

The problem is the main Character is not like a girl would be in her situation, she's all together too modern.

Also (( If you've never read I'm warning this ruins the book. )) When her brother dies...she doesn't show the emotion one might if your brother died. And her insistant pleading with wanting to go home annoyed me horribly so much I hardly re-read it, only when I'm bored of all my other books.

It did have some good points like when she befriended the town weirdo, though I think they tread on the subject of abuse lightly. And the Author did have a way with PUTTING the words so that it did get a 3 star.

I enjoyed Lucy Whipple because it had different situations in it like when she gets mad at her mom because her mom told her she didn't work hard enough, and when some men say that they wanted to marry her mom. The main character was California Whipple. She had to move to the state of California, because everyone thought there was more gold there than in Massachusettes. When California got there she hated what she saw and changed her name to Lucy. When she thought she should tell her mom that she had changed her name she was scared that her mom would get mad at her. Lucy wanted to make money so she could go back to Massachusetts. So she decided to start a pie selling business. She started to get up early in the morning so she could bake the pies and then go sell them to the miners. She loses her family's mule, Sweethart is it's name. She loses it because she puts the halter down on the green grass and wanders off and gets lost all at the same time. If you want to know more, read this book for yourself, I'm sure you'll like it.

the balled of lucy whipple by karen cushman Have you ever had to move away from some family members? Well california did or should i say "lucy". California used to live in Massachusetts but her father died so they moved to california. She wanted to change her name to lucy because she didn't like the state of california, and she wanted a better name. As she starts to get used to Lucky Diggins,her mother gets married and she's moving to Sandwich Island away from Lucky Diggins. Will Lucy go find out yourslf, read the book because i relly liked it.