Customer Reviews

Holding Up the Earth

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book, Holding Up the Earth, was about a girl, Hope, whose mother died when Hope was six. She went to seven foster families before she went to a lady's named Sarah. This is about how Hope overcomes her mother's death, and learns to live with Sarah. I think that this book is well written,because about every other chapter the author has a diary or a journal explaning what has happened at the farm where they live in the past. I think that this helps you better understand the book. I would recommend this book to someone who likes Realistic Fiction. As far as age groups go I would recommend this book to children ten and up because there are words that younger children probably shouldn't be reading. If you love books that will lift your spirits this is the one for you!

I was very moved by this story that followed the lives of these interesting, connected women. I was fascinated by the non-linear way they were related- the way it was woven together, and the manner the main character was kept at the center of the story. I think this book is a must-read for 6th grade girls and above, its appeal to boys is questionable, although I think there is hope! The historical detail is rich, the themes of finding family and being true to yourself are well explored. This is one of my favorites!

I thought that 'Holding Up the Earth' was a powerful, moving, and inspiring story. It is beautifully written and tells such a wonderful tale. Fourteen-year-old Hope goes with Sarah, her latest foster mother, to the farm in Nebraska where Sarah grew up. It has been eight years since her mother died and Hope doubts that she will ever find happiness or a real home. Then Anna, Sarah's mother, gives Hope the letters written by a girl named Abigail who was the first girl to ever live on the farm. Abigail was a pioneer and came to Nebraska with her parents in the 1800's. After reading Abigail's story, Hope reads the diary of Rebecca, a hired girl who lived on the farm and was Anna's mother. Hope then discovers Anna and Sarah's stories and meanwhile her mother's story and her own. All of the young women in this story are strong, intelligent, and have made a difference. All of their own stories are intertwined and relate to each other. Certain things, like the cherry wood bedstead and the gold-rimmed china, are present in several generations of women and help the stories flow together. I think that every girl or woman should read this book because the meaning and hope and lessons it has to share with us are so poignant.

Dianne E. Gray has created a quality fiction book that should be of interest to ALL women!! This book follows young Hope as she travels with her new foster Mom, Sarah, to visit Sarah's Mom, Anna, on a farm in Nebraska. Once there, Anna and Sarah share with Hope letters, journals, and their own personal stories from when they were growing up on this farm at about fourteen or fifteen years of age. The first story takes place from 1869-1870, the second in the 1900s, the third in the 1930s, the fourth in the 1960s, and Hope's in the present. This is a very entertaining and hard to put down book!! Recommmended to women of all ages!!

Shifting the point of view as Dianne Gray does in both Together Apart and Holding up the Earth is not my favorite literary technique, yet she manages it pretty well. In the latter, she actually switches between the voices of five different girls to bind together her story of fourteen-year-old Hope, a foster kid who has been shuffled from home to home since the death of her mom. Hope visits her new foster mom's Nebraska farm and through old letters, a diary, and stories hears the voices of four girls her age who lived there in 1869, 1900, 1936, and 1960. Through their tales, readers are introduced to the life of pioneers and hired hands and of life during the dust bowl and later nuclear testing days. And through Hope's voice, readers learn about farming and small towns, but also something more. May we always have memories that shape us, but may we also always move forward to make new ones. Dianne Gray has written a third book, and based on the strength of her first two books, I'll be checking it out too.

A treasured stretch of land and a lonely 14 year old named Hope lie at the heart of this exquisite story of the ties that bind us to the earth itself and to each other.

Hope has spent her life being shuffled from one foster home to the next - until she finds herself with Sarah. A kind and undemanding woman, Sarah takes Hope to her family's farm in Nebraska where, through a series of letters and journals, we come to know the former inhabitants who also loved that same plot of ground. We meet the teenage girl who helped build the original sod house, a mail order bride's daughter who comes to work the land as a hired hand and others, who found pain and hardship as well as peace and joy, under that same Nebraska sky.

The author deftly captures the voices and tones of these predecessors - I fell into their worlds so deeply that when the story switched back to Hope, I found I'd forgotten her. This isn't meant to imply that Hope's story isn't as meaningful as those who homesteaded there - what struck me about Hope's modern story is the way that Gray has woven these other loves and lives into Hope's experiences as she unknowingly tries to find a place where she truly belongs.

Without getting sentimental or sappy (the end comes right to the edge, but I think she pulls it off), Holding up the Earth deals with the issue of loosing a loved one with a gentle hand, while also inspiring in readers a love of the earth and the power of belonging. Highly recommended for teenage girls, especially.

Five teen girls are separated by decades but united by their love of a Nebraska farm: this focal point ties their lives together in this first novel centered around powerful female protagonists who are searching for a powerful place in the world. Letter entries explore their very different worlds and the concerns that connect them and make for gripping reading.

I think that this book was really exciting and interesting. There like mysteries in the letters that "Hope" reads. It really got my attention while i read the first pages. When i started reading this book i actually didn't want to stop. I would recommend this book to other people.

I love this Book! It has such a great use of words and I could not have injoyed it any more or any less. It was just perfect! I call this book a true page turner. I couldn't put it down. Very emotional but in the best way! I hope that everyone reads this book. I recomend it to all the Little House On the Prarie lovers and to anyone who believes in tradition or loves good books to snuggle up in a warm blanket next to the fire. I urge Dianne E. Gray to keep writing and I can garentee I will keep reading! 5 starts is exactly what it deserves!

The teenage girls in this story are truly unforgettable. Each character struggles with the difficulties of growing up and being female in various time periods, and the book does a great job of showing the problems girls encountered in the days when women had few priviledges or options. But as you're reading, you also realize that many of the problems teenage girls face are the same in the 1800's as they are now. Beautiful descriptions of the Nebraska prairie, a compelling story, and characters that stay with you for a long time, this is a wonderful read.