Jericho [Hardcover]

Janet Hickman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1994 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

This is the engrossing story of four generations of women, going back to Great-Grandmother GrandMin....

'Who did you say you were?" GrandMin asks Angela, and not for the first time. Angela answers patiently, but she cannot get used to the fact that GrandMin does not know her. Twelve-year-old Angela, her brother, Brian, and their parents are spending their vacation with Gram and GrandMin. Angela is lonely in her mother's hometown of Gatesville, once called Jericho. There are no young people her age in the town, and their visit has to be prolonged when Gram sprains her ankle.

In alternate sections Janet Hickman seamlessly interweaves the past and present as the lives of her protagonists, Min and Angela, unfold. This spare, beautifully written, emotion-packed story is unforgettable.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Angela, her brother and her parents are spending their vacation helping Grandma Katy take care of her invalid mother, great-grandmother Arminda. Saddened by GrandMin's physical and mental decline, lonely for her best friend and feeling claustrophobic in Grandma and GrandMin's small town, Angela settles gradually into the dull routine of daily chores. The tedium is periodically broken by run-ins with a handsome, smooth-talking neighbor boy but, much to her dismay, Angela always seems to make a fool of herself in front of him. Interspersed with Angela's bemoanings are flashbacks to Arminda in her youth, keeping house for her widowed father. Deftly paralleling the lives of the youngest and oldest members of an extended family, Hickman (The Thunder-Pup; Zoar Blue) expresses the ties between generations. Readers will find themselves caring deeply about these characters and the day-to-day ups and downs that define the rhythm and meaning of their lives. The author's unsentimental narrative reveals a sharp eye for detail, a profound understanding of the aging process and a deep love for humanity. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Angela knows it's going to be a boring summer. She's stuck in the small town of Gatesville with her parents and obnoxious brother without a mall, video store, or other 12-year-olds. What's worse is that she has to help Gram look after Grand-Mim, Gram's once-energetic mother who is now frail and feeble. Angela dreads being with her cranky great-grandmother, the smell of her room, the little bell she rings all the time, and her querulous questions. Meeting the local boy, Tom, helps a little, although Angela's feelings about him are confusing, sometimes awkward and painful. Interwoven with the girl's story are the hardships and triumphs of Grand-Mim's life, as the narrative alternates between past and present. Although readers never get a clear picture of Gram or Angela's mother, they do get an evocative portrait of four generations of women, bound by love and history, coping with growth, change, and loss. Understated yet compelling, the emotional narrative sweeps readers along, despite a rather abrupt ending and several unexplained details. Nevertheless, this is an engaging, thought-provoking novel to absorb and reflect on.
Cyrisse Jaffee, formerly at Newton Public Schools, MA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books; 1st edition (September 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688133983
• ISBN-13: 978-0688133986
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,709,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a beautifully told story!, September 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Jericho (Hardcover)

I read this book quite a while ago, yet it has stayed in my mind and heart. The language is simple and poetic. Since the story has little action, it probably would appeal to the quieter more reflective child or teenager. Anyone who has a family member who is getting forgetful would be able to understand the main character's ambivalent feelings toward her great-grandmother. This gem of a book can be enjoyed by adults as well as children. It's a treasure!

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Jericho' is a beautiful story, April 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Jericho (Hardcover)

Jericho is fiction and tells two parallel stories set in different times. One of the stories is about a young girl named Angela and the other is about Arminda, her great-grandmother. The story begins when Angela finds out that she's spending several weeks of summer vacation at her grandmother's house in a small and remote town. There she is expected to help with and relieve her grandmother of the responsibility of caring for her great-grandmother, Grand Min. Angela is not very happy about this because Grand Min lives in the past and can't even remember Angela's name. Min frets daily because she is the only one from her generation in the family still living and she feels abandoned, even though her daughter cares for her faithfully. Alternating with Angela's story are Min's memories of her girlhood and growing up in a time long gone. In their parallel stories, Angela and Min both experience love, loss, and unwanted feelings of responsibility. Their personalities and feelings are quite similar, though Min's life had more disappointments. Angela, who is quite insecure, has often wanted to see an image of the person she will one day become. She sees this one-day in a photograph she finds in the attic of Min as a young woman. Jericho ends with both Min and Angela finding peace: Min through death and returning to her family, and Angela through the comfort in knowing that she will turn out all right. Reading Jericho was really a magical experience for me. I found both Angela and Min's stories very touching. Reading about Min brought tears to my eyes because so many things in her life went wrong in her life and she was so timid and naive. Her mother died, her sister ran away, and her other sister stole the man she hoped to marry. From Min I learned so much: that sometimes things don't work out and you have to accept them as they are. The author portrayed Angela and Min's feelings very well and I thought that how she brought them together with the photograph was perfect. I loved this book and I think that every girl would find a bit of meaning between its pages. Jericho is a beautifully written and emotional story that I like to think changed my life. It should be part of everyone's library.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The book was confusing., February 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Jericho (An Avon Camelot Book) (Paperback)

This book was a bit boring. This book was also confusing. The plot was unclear. It jumps around too much. I liked Sarah, Plain and Tall very much and was hoping this book by the same author would be just as good. I was disappointed.