Customer Reviews

Mine for Keeps

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is truly the best book featuring a character with cerebral palsy. Sarah (Sally) is the central character in this story. At 9, she has attended a school for children with physical challenges for the past five years. The Canadian province she lives in has no such school, so her parents arrange to have her admitted to the school in America.

Finally, a rehab center opens in her town. Sally's parents move closer to the center so Sally can live at home. Her father flies her back and works like a soldier helping Sally to feel integrated into her rather large family.

Sally has an older, bossy sister named Mindy, a brother close in age named Kent and a sister in kindergarten named Meg. She gets to know Meg because Meg was the sibling she spent the least amount of time with due to her years in America.

Sally's father is truly a rare gem. He is clearly a very intelligent and articulate man and he provides intelligent explanations for things. For example, when Sally, understandably fearful of starting out in public school asks why she was sent out of the country in the first place, her mother flares up. That was needless. Sally needed sympathy and a good explanation, which her father provided. He told her that at Meg's age, Sally could neither speak clearly nor feed herself; she could not walk; she could not dress herself. He summed it up nicely by saying that he thought she would want to do these things for herself. He was truly a delightful character.

Once enrolled in public school, Sally makes friends with classmates Jon and Elsje Jansen and another girl who immediately takes her under her wing. Sally learns that Elsje's brother Pieter had a heart condition that precluded him from attending school for a year. Nursed at home, Pieter nurses a grudge against his illness and insists on only speaking Dutch, thus further isolating himself. It is Sally, his sister and his friends who get Pieter to leave his self-imposed shell to help them with their dog training project.

This is a wonderful book that I have loved since I was a little girl. I even have a well loved copy. It is a real treasure.

"Mine for Keeps", by Jean Little, is a great story about friendship you can't miss. It's a story about a girl, Sarah Copeland (Sal), who suffers of cerebral palsy (faulty development or damage to motor areas in the brain). She had always dreamed of going home with her family, but when her dream came true, she wished she had never wished for that. Sal has to overcome many obstacles: make new friends, adapt to her new home, and to not look bad in front of others. It is a story about friendship you can't miss, where a girl who use to be scared of everything-dogs, people, school, even dressing herself, finds friendship in a dog. It is a story with an ending that will leave you pleased.

This book can really capture your heart. Sal has just come home to live with her family, after living in a special boarding school, for people with Cerebal Palsey. She gets enrolled in a public school, and makes two best friends, Libby and Elsjie. Elsjie has a brother named Piet, who is also crippled, like Sal. If you like reading Jean Little's books, I reccomend her biography, "Little by Little" This book is a must read!

It's a cute story about new friendships, dog training, and growing up...but what I like best about this book is how it teaches children about considering other points of view. Not since the companion volumes "The Bully of Barham Street/A Dog on Barkham Street" has any writer really made the concept of point-of-view so beautifully. Sara's enemies all become friends as she learns to understand them and their problems. And, naturally, helping them helps her to stop obsessing about her own troubles and makes her a stronger person.

A joy to read, and good for you, too! ;o)

I just finished reading my childhood copy to my 6 1/2 year old daughter. We both loved it. The family portrayal was lovely as well as the inisght into Sal and her struggles with fears and cerebral palsy. I am dissapointed the book is out of print and I cannot give it to others.

As a child I read this book and really enjoyed it. Now, as an adult I would like for my daughters to read it! The story was very real. As a child and an adult I don't like to read alot. But, I COULDN'T PUT THIS BOOK DOWN! I actually had to keep reading and reading until I finished it! Once again a great book for kids!

Jean Little does an excellent job in explaining the life of a little girl by the name of Sal to the rest of the public. This girl is very courageous and goes through some very big hurdles and obstacles, but she is eventually going to get through some of the hurdles, but it will take some time. I think that she does an excellent job with this. If you want to find out more about Jean Little and Sal, read Mine for Keeps.