Customer Reviews

Getting near to baby (Newbery Honor Book)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My wife stages a Nutcracker production involving over 100 children. During long hours of rehearsals there is much down time. The young dancers get bored and irritable. One day she found Getting Near to Baby. (recommended by a grammar school teacher) In the Green Room one of the mothers began reading the novel to the waiting dancers and they were enthralled. It seemed to be a situation they could relate to. The language was "theirs" and the story struck a chord. It was difficult to get them to go onstage for rehearsal until they found what happened to the little girls up on the roof.

This profound Newbery Honor Book bears revisiting, and it surely bears listening as the story reveals what it means to be a sister and the different forms that tragedy may take. Mischa Barton reads with compassionate understanding.

Twelve-year-old Willa Jo and seven-year-old Little Sister have lost their baby sister. The child's sudden death has, of course, devastated their mother. Aunt Patty, who is not accustomed to having children in her home, takes the two girls thinking that mother needs some time alone to grieve and perhaps begin adjusting to her loss.

What seems like a good and generous thought doesn't turn out very well for the girls as they miss their mother desperately, are grieving for their lost sister, and Aunt Patty has jillions of rules.

In an effort to escape what seems to be an intolerable situation the girls climb onto the roof one morning to watch the sunrise. The problem is, following the sunrise Willa Jo can't bring herself to come down. After all, once she came down, how could she explain her unusual behavior?

There is much for all to learn in this thoughtful recounting of a tragedy and the toll it takes.

When Willa Jo climbs on the roof of Aunt Patty's house to watch the sunrise, she discovers that although grief affects everyone differently, no one escapes the sadness that follows a death in the family. With cleverly-inserted flashbacks, Audrey Couloumbis tenderly describes how an extended family's relationships change as two sisters grieve the death of their baby sister. Sometimes stubborn and prickly, thirteen-year-old Willa Jo resolutely resists Aunt Patty's bossiness, her exacting household rules, and her well-intentioned but awkward attempts to care for Willa Jo and Little Sister. Only on her rooftop retreat, does Willa Jo begin to understand the bond that entwines her grief, sunrise memories, and the sisters' relationship with Aunt Patty and Uncle Hob. Getting Near to Baby explores family relationships with humor and sensitivity as it describes one family's struggle to find peace after a baby's death. More than a sensitive depiction of bereavement, this story explores the special closeness two sisters may share. I liked Willa Jo and found her narration believable, touching, and sometimes funny.

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Getting Near to Baby was one of the more peculiar novels for young people I have read in recent months. Its power lies in the author's tight yet soaring descriptive moments. There were, for example, wonderful and soaring descriptions of nature as seen from the roof where Willa Jo and Little Sister are esconsed that are nothing short of breathtaking. But from an emotional point of view, this is a very small novel that finally has the emotional arc of a bad SEVENTH HEAVEN episode. The resolution is pat, didactic (especially in the voice of Hob, the girls' uncle) and utterly predictable. Caution to authors: when you start out a novel that has a young girl not talking, understand that your readers have already figured out that by the end of the book, the girl will talk. How you get the girl there, and how you twist her actual moment of speech so that the reader is in some way astonished, is the mark of whether you have done your job as a storyteller. This is a stop-and-start novel that is not very long in the first place. I must have put it down ten times along the way. If this is a roller-coaster of a review, the book itself is a slow speed rowboat glide along a still southern pond.

The author has done an excellent job of writing about a painful subject without making it seem trite or overly emotional. While a few things may be predictable (a bad Seventh Heaven episode it's certainly not!), they weren't intended to fool you to begin with - I felt the emotions and responses to events were very accurately portrayed. I found myself crying during certain passages and laughing out loud during others. This is one of those books that makes you glad you can read. If you're buying this for a young person, take a few hours to read it yourself - it will be well worth the time.

It took me a while to get into this book, but each time I put it down, there was an empty space wanting to be filled with answers. The more I got to know Willa Jo and Little Sister, as well as Aunt Patty, Uncle Hob and Mom, the more my questions yearned for answers.

This story, about a summer filled with grief and the different ways of trying to cope with it, is hauntingly spiritual. Despite the well-meaning efforts of Aunty Patty and her churchgoing neighbors, the spiritual depths are mined by a grieving mother who paints pictures of angels, and by two lonely girls sitting on the roof watching the sun rise.

I'm not sure how many middle-grade readers will be drawn into this sparse story, but it would be worth the effort, especially for those dealing with grief or the departure of a parent.

This book opens a path to its readers that is unexplainable. The Newbery honor book bears a truth that not many people want to hear. Getting Near to Baby is written by Audrey Couloumbis, and is not in a series.
Getting Near to Baby is about a family that not only falls apart because of their baby sister's death, but is torn apart by their misunderstanding aunt. The only thing that they find comfort in is the sunrise (they believe it is their sister in heaven.) The family has to go through some rough times, but is still willing to make it work. Can they possibly get along?
I thought that this book was excellent and in many ways a teaching tool. I would rate this book a three out of five. This book starts out slow, but ends too quickly. I could not put it down after fifty or more pages. When finished with this book, you too will see the blinding sunrise!

Getting Near to Baby definitely deserves 4 stars! The writing style Audrey Coulumbis shows is interesting. She is a very poetic writer and I will definitely read her other books. If you love poetry you will like this book.While a little bumpy and dreamy at the beginning, overall it is a great book. The chapters are very short but include much detail. This book satisfys readers young and old. The characters are very intriguing, and make any reader want to read more. Willa Jo and her family seem like normal people, but I don't know anybody who sits on a roof to watch the sunset. The plot of the book is twisted and sad, unlike most books I have read. It was sad how the aunt treats the children. Doesn't it seem mean not to let children play with children across the street because they live in little houses? Even though this book is sad, I will recommend it to everyone in search of a great book! By: Caitlin

Willa Jo's loving care of Little Sister during their stay with Aunt Patty, while their mother takes time to recover from the sudden death of Baby, is very touching.

Though Willa Jo's thoughts and words sometimes seem unrealistically mature for a 12-year-old, her profound wisdom realistically expresses the grief of this broken family.

The author portrays her characters simply but by the end of the book you are very aware of Willa Jo's, Aunt Patty's, Uncle Hob's and others complexities by their very human acts.

Little Sister only speaks once, on nearly the last page, her few simple words are achingly painful but also joyous and you know the family is starting to heal after Baby's tragic death.

I enjoyed this book very much and think sensitive middle-schoolers would too.

The book I read was Getting Near To Baby by Audrey Couloumbis. This book is a realistic fiction book. It is a good book and I recommend it.
In this book there is a girl named Willa Jo, a girl named "Little Sister", and a girl named "Baby". At the beginning of this story baby had died from drinking bad carnival water. Willa Jo, Little Sister, and their mom were very sad and didn't really keep up with their regular lifestyle. One day their Aunt Patty came and took Willa Jo and Little Sister till their mom got her life back on a regular schedule and had found a job. Willa Jo and Little Sister loved to sit on Aunt Patty's roof, which made Aunt Patty nervous, but they said that it made them feel closer to Baby in heaven.
I liked this book a lot. It was a sad book in parts but by the end it was better. This book is best suited for kids of the age 11 and up. I think this because you have to think of yourself in this situation and how you would feel. I put the age this way because this book has some flashbacks in the middle of the book so it is not a continuous story