Madame Squidley and Beanie [Hardcover]

Alice Mead (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up

The story of a girl whose mother has a chronic illness

Beanie's mom used to be a lot of fun. She still is, when she pretends to be the amazing fortune-teller, Madame Squidley. But Beanie knows it's a strain. Mrs. Kingsley has been sick for months, and doctors can't say exactly what's wrong. They don't seem to take the illness very seriously, though. Beanie does. She worries about her mom, and wonders what will happen to her and Jerm, her little brother, if their mother doesn't get well. Beanie's friend Charles Sprague has a problem, too -- scoliosis, and divorced parents who fight about it. Beanie begins to long for a new mother and a whole new set of friends. Then she discovers that she already has the best family, and the best friend, and that there's plenty she can do to help them.

This is perhaps the most personal story written by Alice Mead, herself a mother with a chronic illness.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5–Just entering fifth grade, Beanie Kingsley would like to be part of the "in" crowd with popular Miranda Adams. Not only is Miranda cool, but so is her mother, and Mrs. Kingsley is definitely not. In fact, Mom has chronic fatigue syndrome and tires easily. Although she still does amusing things, like pretending to be the fortune-teller Madame Squidley, she is not as much fun as she used to be. Beanie has to take up lots of slack with household chores and with her younger brother. Her friend Charles has problems of his own now that he must wear his back brace more often to correct his scoliosis. Beanie daydreams about a world in which all of her problems disappear. Mrs. Kingsley seems unusually patient and sensitive; her inability to deal with her health issues never seems to disturb her ability to connect with her children or say the right thing. Mead realistically shows how peer pressure prods Beanie into being hurtful to Charles, as well as the girl's gradual realization about who her true friends are. Although she often feels overwhelmed, the protagonist slowly finds a way to accommodate the unfairness in her life and make changes for the future. This slice-of-life novel depicts kids whose problems are unusual but not insurmountable.–Carol A. Edwards, Douglas County Libraries, Castle Rock, CO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-7. When her mother gets Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Beanie Kingsley has trouble coming to terms with how it changes their lives, adding to Beanie's chores as well as threatening her mother's income. The fifth-grader deals with her feelings credibly by lashing out at her best friend and expressing resentment for healthy women such as her teacher. A subplot about the Snob Squad, a clique that Beanie longs to join, borders on cliche, but the family dynamics ring true as Beanie tries to hide her worries from her mother, while her mother, previously so energetic, struggles to find activities she can still do with Beanie and her younger brother. Beanie's friendship with classmate Charles adds texture to this ultimately insightful portrait of a girl and her family adjusting to a worrisome illness. Kathleen Odean
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); First Edition edition (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374346887
• ISBN-13: 978-0374346881
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,189,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I had an unusually healthy childhood-sailing across the ocean on a steamship at age 7, visiting England,Scotland, and Norway, and playing endlessly with my dollhouse, which perhaps eventually lead to writing many books for children. Because I live in a refugee resettlement city Portland, ME, I wrote about displaced kids from war areas, Sudan, Kurdistan, and Kosovo. I was also an art teacher. The book, Soldier Mom, now 20 years old, was written during the first Gulf War, when we suddenly used a "reserve" army instead of an enlisted one. I had two active sons, dogs, rabbit, chameleon, hamster and later assisted 40 Kosova high school students. I loved gardening, painting, reading. But suddenly began to hurt everywhere, falling, weak. Nothing helped.I had to leave my job as an art teacher but was still able to write.
Nearly twenty years (plus a bout with severe cancer) into feeling weak, I now know I have Myasthenia Gravis, a neuromuscular disease that affects your eyes, breathing, endurance and speech.
I still write, paint, sing, practice my standup comedy, and take photographs. Really nothing inside me has changed at all. I fight to improve, laugh over the silliness of ordinary life, and am curious about all sorts of things.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A moving story of chronic illness, August 8, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Madame Squidley and Beanie (Hardcover)

Something is wrong with Beanie Kingsley's mother: something the doctors can't figure out. Beanie has to pitch in with many chores and worries she might have to care for both her younger sibling and her only parent, given their rural location in a small town lacking social services. Her newfound reliance on friends shows her just who is a good friend and who lacks in Alice Mead's moving story of chronic illness Madame Squidley And Beanie.