Before The Lark [Paperback]

Irene Bennett Browm (Author), Irene B. Brown (Author), Larry Milam (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1982

In 1888, hard-working twelve-year-old Jocey Royal, tormented because of a disfiguring harelip, takes her invalid grandmother to live on the Kansas farm that her drifter father has abandoned.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"When most people hear 'large-print book,' they immediately think senior citizen. But large-print editions of popular children's books -- from the powerhouse Harry Potter series to timeless classics like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -- are now making their way onto the shelves of the Children's Department at the Canton Library. . . . Although large-print editions are targeted to the visually-impaired or dyslexic child, they can also be used by standard-vision readers. So Kershner [Children's librarian at the Canton Public Library] has decided against creating a special section in the Children's Department (as exists in the Adult Department) opting instead to intersperse large-print books on the shelves with the regular print versions of the same titles."
-- The Observer and Eccentric (October 2000) (The Observer and Eccentric )

"Thorndike Press has helped me not only find books I want to read, but they also look like regular books. That's important when you're a kid and you can only read Large Print, you want your book to look like all the other books. I'm reading a lot more now that we have found Thorndike Press."
-- Jim Bernardin, Islamorada, FL

"Everyone loves to read, there's nothing like curling up with a good book. We're a reading family, so when our son was diagnosed with Stargardt's Disease and only able to read Large Print, it was particularly difficult. Books on tape are wonderful but they don't fill the void of actually reading a good story. Large Print books have been around a long time for older people, but to find a good novel for a young person in Large Print began to feel nearly impossible. The books that Thorndike Press publishes have truly made a difference in my son's reading life. He can enjoy current novels as well as some of the classics that he missed reading when it became too difficult with regular print."
-- Sara Bernardin, Islamorada, FL

"Finely crafted."
-- Booklist (Booklist ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Irene Bennett Brown is the author of nine books for children, several of which are set in the Midwest. She based Before the Lark loosely on the correspondence of an early 1900s laundress-turned-homesteader whose six-year-old daughter harvested a ton of potatoes. Brown says, “Jocey—child of my imagination—became as real to me as any living person. I could only follow this tough, practical, and enterprising youngster as she met head-on the challenges before her. She had already been doing Gram’s work as a laundress, before she tackled running the small Kansas farm on which she’s pinned her hopes. Why wouldn’t she succeed?” Brown lives in Jefferson, Oregon. Pamela Riney-Kehrberg is professor of history at Iowa State University.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 174 pages
• Publisher: Blue Heron Publishing: Hillsboro, Oregon (September 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0936085223
• ISBN-13: 978-0936085227
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,828,446 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A diamond in the rough, July 23, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Before the Lark (Hardcover)

I was very, very, woefully sorry to find out that the original edition of Before the Lark was out of print and the only edition of the book is in large print. Furthermore, it was sad to know that the sales rank was so low. This really is a great book.

I got this book from a school book sale and didn't read it until five years after I purchased it.

The story is about a girl named Jocey Royal who lives during the late 1800's, who has the horrible curse of a cleftlip, or harelip. For that, she is an outcast and is driven to go to a patch of Kansas farmland where she finds out more about har grandmother and her never there father. She also lerans that anyone can have a friend, and that some curses can be cured.

I really wish that more people would read this. Irene Bennett Brown wrote about a topic that rarely anyone thought about- the defects of a harelip. Many American children don't what a harelip is because the defect is fixed before the leave the hospital when they're born. But many poor courntries can't treat children with harelips, so they are shunned, just like Jocey.

I LOVED reading this book. Irene Bennett Brown created an unknown masterpiece and needs to be applauded. PLEASE, for your sake, read this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't judge a book by its cover., January 2, 2012

By 

Story Circle Book Reviews - See all my reviews

This review is from: Before the Lark (Windword Books for Young Readers) (Paperback)

Before the Lark opens with twelve-year-old Jocey Belle Royal living with her ailing grandmother (Gram) in the 1888 poverty of Kansas City, MO. Her mother died six years earlier and she has not heard from or seen her father in over two years.

Jocey works with her grandmother, taking in laundry for the richer families of the city. Born with a cleft lip, she no longer attends school. Teasing by "The Chasers," peers who chant, "Harelip, ugly crip, hole in her lip, snip, snip," has destroyed her self-confidence. She avoids people and relationships, finding solace in her chickens (Opal and Don Juan), horse (Nappy), and the books her father gave her.

Jocey prefers invisibility. However, she has also lost her voice and ability to stand up to others and for herself. A gift comes out of nowhere, in the form of a letter from her father's lawyer. It seems that Jocey is half owner of her father's farm in Council Grove, KS, or if he has been determined to be dead, full owner.

The revelation propels Jocey to decide to move to the farm, with her very unwilling Gram. Jocey is one determined young lady and what happens because of her decision is something else.

Before the Lark was first published in 1982 by Blue Heron Publishing as historical fiction. The story, more importantly, though set in 1888 is still germane and interesting.

I don't want to give away what happens, but I do want to encourage tween readers (and their moms, aunts, grandmothers, or mentors) to pick up a copy of Before the Lark and discover the developments for themselves. The themes of differences, bullying and self-esteem are timeless.

I would recommend Before the Lark as a great selection for mother-daughter book clubs, or for mom and daughter to read and then discuss. A wonderful forward is provided by Pamela Rieny-Kehrberg, assisting the reader with a point of reference when reading the story. Brown also provides some facts about the facts behind the story in her notes at the end of the book.

by Judy Miller
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women