Belle Pruitt [Paperback]

Vera Cleaver (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1990

When her adored baby brother suddenly dies of pneumonia, eleven-year-old Belle is left to cope with the devastating effects on her family.

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When her sunny baby brother dies and her mother, depressed, withdraws from family life, Belle11decides to do something about it: she plants a garden to restore her mother's faith in living things. Set in the poor, semi-rural Florida panhandle, this is familiar Cleaver country. Belle's grown-up, ineffectual siblings squabble while her aunt connives to dominate the household. Meanwhile, Belle, bereft of nurturing, finds unexpected depths of imagination and grit within herself. (At the last, when her mother shows concern for her, she insists, "I am not hurting.") The author's penetrating style and her inability to resort to triteness is as intact as ever, and there is integrity in the characters and setting. But these facets don't entirely compensate for a rather diffuse story. Ages 9-12.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6 When 11-year-old Belle Pruitt's infant brother dies suddenly, her once-lively mother withdraws into her grief. Belle's attempt to help her mother by arranging for domineering Aunt George to move in backfires. Perceptive and feisty, Belle is the only family member who realizes that Aunt George is encouraging her mother's dependency in order to secure a new home. Determined to thwart her aunt, Belle devises a plan, diligently clearing an overgrown weed lot. While Cleaver's style is as soothing as the comfortable Pruitt household before the tragedy, the resolution is both painful (Belle's garden, including a sapling, is devastated during a storm) and upbeat (mother emerges to comfort daughter). The characterizations (with the exception of the sentimentalized baby Darwin) are strong, the rural southern setting vivid, and the humor subtle. A moving story about a sensitive subject. Julie Corsaro, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Trophy Pr (May 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064402495
• ISBN-13: 978-0064402491
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,044,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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