Customer Reviews

Frozen Summer

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's been a year since her family moved from Connecticut to the New York frontier, and now twelve year old Rememberance "Mem" Nye, her parents, and her little brother and settled into their new home. Then, severe frosts kill Papa's crops and Mama gives birth to a new baby, a little girl Mem names Lily. Ever since Lily was born, Mama has been going into spells that disconect her from reality. Now Mem must stay at home to take care of her mother, brother, and sister. But when Mama takes Lily and disapears in the forest on a dark, stormy night, can Mem find them and bring them safely home? Mary Jane Auch has written a gripping story of a pioneer family fighting to stay alive even though the odds are against them. I can't wait to read the third book which will complete this trilogy.

In this sequal to Journey to Nowhere, Rememberance Nye, called Mem by her family, is twelve years old in 1816, and it's been a year since her family left Connecticut to begin a new life on the frontier. But Papa's crops failed because of strange summer frosts, and since Mama gave birth to baby Lily, she's been having terrible spells. This is an excellant story of a pioneer family fighting to survive in the wilderness. I can't wait to read the third book which will complete this trilogy.

The second book of the Remembrance Nye trilogy is set in the Wilds of the New York frontier in the early 1800s. The weather is crazy during the family's tough first year on the frontier. Mysterious snow in June and hard frosts in July ruin the crops the pioneers have painstakingly planted. This brave girl holds the family together as her hapless father tries his best to beat the weather to feed the family, and Momma struggles with loneliness that pushes her to the edge. But Mem's positive can-do attitude is an inspiration to those around her, and a salvation for little Lilly. Extremely realistic, it gave us a vivid picture of how truely hard the early settlers had to work -- and the dangers they faced. Very well researched and compelling -- we can't wait for the third in the series!

The book Frozen Summer is sad, eventful, and exciting . It's about a girl named Rememberance Nye. Her family had moved to New York the year before, and her mother had just given birth to a baby girl named Lily in the middle of an unusual blizard in the middle of June. A summer frost killed all of their crops, and all that remained were sweet peas. Rememberance's (Mem's) mother started having unusual spills. She wasn't in the proper condition to take care of a new baby. Mem had to give up going to school so she could take care of her mother, brother, and little sister.
My favorite part was when Mem's teacher came to live with mem's family and helped take care of baby Lily. I hope you will read this book by Mary Jane Auch, I believe you will enjoy it as I have.

Have you every thought about how life was like back in the 1800's? Well, if you would like to experience that, then you should read Frozen Summer. The story is about a family that face hardships after hardships. The family's first hardship is when they leave from their family. Then a baby girl is born and the mother gets sick. She can't tend for the baby and the little boy so the main character has to take care of her sister and brother and also the house work. This is truly a good story if you are up to reading a story that will make you like your life 100% more.

Frozen Summer by Mary Jane Auch is about a young girl named, Remembrance Nye and her family. They have recently moved to the Genesee Country in western New York in search for a better life. Remembrance is a very young girl who feels as though she is more of a burden than a helper. But, when Remembrance's mother has a baby and becomes unfit, she tries to take on the responsibilities of taking care of her newborn sister, her little brother, cooking, and cleaning. "Mem' also is determined to nurse her mother back to her usual self. Things become even worse for Mem when her mother disappears with the baby, Lily, on a stormy night. Mem believes that it is her duty to bring her mother and her baby sister back home safely.

I really liked this book and thought that it was is very appealing because it tells about a little girl who feels left out and too young to know anything, but when things get bad everything depends on her.

A very intense and eye-opening look at the life of the people who farmed and settled this country. It was a book that my 9 year old had to read for a class but I (her mom) picked it up one evening and couldn't put it down. It was a really moving experience for us both and made us appreciate our little luxuries!

Twelve-year-old Remembrance Nye (Mem to her family) seems clumsy and more a burden than a helper when Mama gives birth to a baby sister in their primitive one-room cabin in the wilderness of Western New York State in 1816. But Mama is terribly homesick for her family in Connecticut; she all but ignores the pitiful baby in her private anguish. Gradually Mem realizes that her mother's mind is at risk; Mrs. Nye wanders in and out of reality and sobs in loneliness because her pioneering husband forced her to sacrfice all the comforts of home for the

loneliness and social desolation of the Genesee Valley.

The odd weather with sudden freezing spells and even snow in June echoes the family's sense of doom. Many pioneers assume that blame God is meting out just punishment for sinners everywhere, thought a few suggest it was Ben Franklin's tampering with the flow of electricity which precipitated such disaster, as crops are lost and famine looms as a grim possibility. How can Mem balance caring for an infant sister whom her mother seems to reject, assume all the woman's chores of tending house and go to school as well--for she wishes to become a school teacher herself someday?

Not all strangers are as dangerous as the local busybody, but the worst threat to the family is the instability of Mrs. Nye. Mem comes of age that frozen summer, when the crops fail and she loses the benefit of maternal contact. As one kind neighbor explains it: the only way to survive in a frontier settlement is through cooperation and charity toward one's neighbors, even those you don't really know. It truly takes a community to raise one child. At the conclusion of this solemn historical novel the author explains how she came to write this story, sharing her research into the causes and reactions to the frozen summer of 1816. A sobering read for anyone studying the early Eastern frontier.

This is the second book in the trilogy I've read and I must say it's a bit bleak. It was assigned to my 10 year old's class (mainly because we live in "Genesee Country") and I'm glad I read it first. Although rich in historical accuracy, Mem's mother's depression is a real turn off for some younger children. I found both this book and "The Journey To Nowhere" quite morose with little joy to redeem them. I did enjoy it as an adult, but they are written with kids in mind and their harshness can be quite unsettling.