Janey's Girl [Hardcover]

Gayle Friesen (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up

Fourteen-year-old Claire and her mother, Jane, are on their way across the country to visit Claire's grandmother. As they approach the family farm, Claire watches her mother become more and more anxious. Until now, she thought they had an open relationship with a healthy respect for each other's privacy. This trip unlocks the key to the many questions Claire has about their past -- including the identity of her father and the reason her mother never went back home until now. Gayle Friesen's novel Janey's Girl is a coming-of-age story with a twist: Claire's mother is the one who reaches maturity.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-Claire is in for some surprises when she and her mother go to visit her grandmother in Smallwood, British Columbia. The girl has never been to the small town in which her mother grew up, and she has never met her father. Once in Smallwood, Claire tries to find out about her background and why everyone calls her "Janey's girl." It soon becomes clear that a divorced man with a young son who has recently returned to town is her father, and that her mother is still bitter about their relationship, which broke off when she became pregnant as a teenager. In this well-written first novel, Friesen tells an involving story about a girl trying to find out about her family's past and shows her reactions as she meets people and learns more about her heritage. The author is particularly adept at revealing the many emotions of the various characters. Readers should sympathize with Claire and what she goes through as she learns about her family, makes some important decisions, stands up to her overbearing mother, and comes to know her father and the half-brother she never knew she had.-Cathy Coffman, Sunrise Mountain Library, Peoria, AZ

Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

In this well-written first novel, Friesen tells an involving story about a girl trying to find out about her family’s past. The author is particularly adept at revealing the many emotions of the various characters. Readers should sympathize with Claire and what she goes through as she learns about her family, makes some important decisions, stands up to her overbearing mother, and comes to know her father and the half-brother she never knew she had. (School Library Journal )

Claire’s difficult decisions about her life, and her attempts to bring the old family secrets into the light, are balanced by humor and warmth in the dialogue and some fine, lovingly realized characters. (Kirkus Reviews )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Kids Can Press (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550744615
• ISBN-13: 978-1550744613
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,376,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very delightful book to read, April 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Janey's Girl (Hardcover)

I enjoyed reading Janey's Girl a lot. At first it is just like any other book, but once you get to the end you just can't put it down. I enjoyed everything about it. The romance, the humor, and drama combined all into one book made it even more worth reading. It is sure to please you no matter what. I would highly recommend it to anyone in the ages of 10 to 15. Whatever you do, if you pick this book up to read, don't start it in the night cause you won't be able to put it down. I think you should make a sequel to it. If there were, I would definitely read it. Janey's Girl is and was definitely worth reading. Well done Gayle Friesen, you definitely have something to be proud of.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Curious Claire, February 10, 2006

By 

GoVHS (Versailles, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Janey's Girl (Paperback)

This book is about a girl named Clarissa (Claire) that goes to her grandma's with her mom Janey. They stay there for the whole story except the beginning and the end. Claire finds out about grandpa she didn't know because he's dead. She finds out why he and her mom didn't get along. She also meets her dad that she's never met before and her little brother. She finds out that her little brother has been dealing with leukemia. She deals with the problems of her sick brother, her mom, and dad around each other.
I liked that she meets her brother because it's fun to read about. I also liked that Claire meets her dad because he's a real neat part of the book. I didn't like that the book had Claire thinking all the time.
I would recommend this book to someone who likes suspense stories. I would also recommend this to someone that likes drama. His is also a real like kind of book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book ROCKED to begin with.., November 2, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Janey's Girl (Hardcover)

I'm a kid, so maybe you don't want to take my review seriously. But whatever. Onto the review...

THIS BOOK ROCKED. It centers around a fourteen-year-old girl, Claire who spends her summer at her grandmother's farm, where she learns the memories and past that lived there. She has many questions and is given all sorts of incomplete answers.Who is the man with her hair and eyes? Why did her mother give up her music when she had such a gift and obsession for it? And why is her mother so reluctant on unravelling the truth on exactly who Claire's father is and Claire's grandfather?

Curious? Well then, read the book. And get the answers to Claire's questions.