Customer Reviews

Miracles on Maple Hill

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

ISBN 0590431455 - This Newbery Award Winner managed to pull off one of the most difficult things in kids' books - possibly in any genre. It is almost completely timeless. Ignoring the copyright date, there is almost nothing in it that sets it in a particular timeframe. Because the setting is nature and a back-to-the-land ideal, the story could be set after almost any war - and because we're in a war right now, it could easily be set in the present. Sorensen mentions "the war" without ever mentioning Hitler, Germany or WWII. The only "give away" is when Joe refers to 4 dollars as a lot of money - but even that, since Joe's a kid, doesn't do any harm to the timelessness of Miracles.

Marly's father is back from the war. A former POW, Dale is suffering from mood swings and depression and seems to be tired all the time. Lee, Marly's mother, worries a lot. She also talks a lot about Maple Hill, where she spent her summers as a child. They still own a house there and, as the story begins, the family is on the way there. Lee has been in touch with the neighbors, the Chris family, who have opened the house and done what they could to make it welcoming. The plan is for Dale to remain behind while Lee shuttles the kids, Marly and her brother Joe, back and forth, visiting Maple Hill on weekends. They will spend the whole summer there, as well. Hopefully this will help Dale, who isn't very social, to recover from the horrors of the war.

The house is run down and overrun with mice when they arrive and the family sets about restoring order. Mr. Chris and his wife, Chrissie, are good neighbors and good friends - as much to the kids as to the parents. They've arrived during sugaring season and right away get to see how maple sap becomes syrup, with Mr. Chris teaching them. Mr. Chris teaches Joe and Marly much about the beauty of the country around them. Marly has, from the start, hoped for miracles here, mostly of the sort that will heal her family, and Mr. Chris reinforces that hope by promising her a miracle a week. He shows her the beauty of each season, in the little things. The kids also meet Harry, something of a recluse, who smells like the goats he keeps, and they learn a lot from him as well.

Eventually, the family decides to stay at Maple Hill together, with the book ending a year later, during sugaring season. This time, however, rather than being the somewhat lost newcomers, relying on others to teach them about everything new to them here, they find themselves in a position to repay some of what they've been given by their new friends. Harry is injured and alone, with no place to stay and, worst of all, Mr. Chris is in the hospital with heart problems just as the greatest sugaring year in the history of Pennsylvania begins. His entire crop is at risk just when he and his family are faced with medical bills. Marly, Joe, Lee and Dale have to help him! It's a lot of work - has the family healed enough to work together and get the job done? Can they really do this, for the neighbors who have been so kind to them?

A wonderful story of healing, caring and helping each other and so much beautifully described detail about the plants and animals they encounter! Dale's speech near the end, about men in the POW camp who were either willing to help each other or who were only worried about themselves, neatly tied together his experience in the war with their year on Maple Hill and showed how far he had come. I recommend this book for just about everyone - adults can appreciate it as much as, it not more than, kids.

- AnnaLovesBooks

Found this book on a flew - market in New york and lapped it up on my flight back to Germany. I simply couldn't stop. Each child, boy or girl,( and I, 53 years old and still remembering my own wonderful childhood very good) who still have got a feeling for nature and living outdoors, will find her own feelings and similar adventures in the story of Marly and her brother. A very good gift for my niece learning English since three years.

Miracles on Maple Hill is great for kids because it's about kids. Marly is a girl who is experiencing the Miracles on Maple Hill. Every season there's a different miracle, weather it's gathering sap from the maple trees,or watching the flowers bloom. Meeting many different friends, Marly and her brother Joe go on many adventures on Maple Hill. I think that it is a great book for kids to read because it is somthing to look forward to.

I can't say anymore than that!The experiences of a family helping old friends with their maple syrup crop are told from the little girls point of view. The descriptions of the countryside, it's flowers, trees, animals are so vivid and beautiful! Get your flora and fauna guides out for this one! It's a charming story with happy ending. Is there a sequal?

Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorenson is a great book. If you have ever believed that miracles could happen,this is the book for you. Marly is a ten year old girl that lives in the city with her mother, father, and older brother. In the spring of one year her family decides to go to her great gandmother's home on Maple Hill. While Marly is at Maple Hill, she meets some remarkable people. Some of them are Mr. Chris, Crissie Chris, and Harry the Hermit. They are all wonderful people and Marly grows to be close friends with each of them. Marly likes Mr. Chris the best, though. Mr. Chris tells Marly that if she looked hard enough, miracles would occur each weekend that she was there. The first miracle was making sugar. Other miracles happen along the way. I really enjoyed this book and you will too!!! This is a MUST read book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Imagine living in the countryside where miracles happen! Would you like that, even if you had to leave the city where all your old friends and school are? In the novel, Miracles on Maple Hill, the author, Virginia Sorsen, takes the reader on an adventure to see where miracles happen on Maple Hill. She also introduces you to Marly, Joe and the rest of their friends and family. In addition to the well written plot, the main character and author make the, Miracle on Maple Hill, a four star book because the characters are very believable. Marly and Joe don't really like it at first because he has no friends yet. As for Marly, she meets a girl named Margie who becomes her best friend. At the end, they both see that miracles happen when one of their friends named Mr.Chris, was getting better from being sick, and you as a reader will also feel the emotion. Finishing up the book you'll see how the miracles happen and understand Joe and Marly's feelings. If you have time, make sure you read, Miracle on Maple Hill. It is fun to relax and enjoy the book. When you have free time buy and read Miracle on Maple Hill, you'll see that this is a miracle!

Miracles on Maple Hill is an outstanding book that warms your heart. Miracles on Maple Hill is about a family who moves to their grandmother's house on Maple Hill and there are changes that appear in everyone. The father is more easy-going. The mother is happier because her husband isn't morose anymore. The kids are more adventurous. It's a really good family adventure story that is beautifully written by Virginia Sorensen. Characters: Marly is a little bit cowardly and generous and she kind of jealous of her older brother. Joe is courageous and very, very outgoing. Miracles on Maple Hill is a great book that you can read anytime and anywhere!

This is a fantastic book! It totally grasps things like growing up, and having a family member get sick. I believe it's a must read for all girls between the ages of eight and eleven.

This is a book that belongs to a story style of about fifty years ago and I don't know if something of a style would nowadays managed to win a Newbery. This is something sweet, wholesome, without any real threat. Some actually might find it boring, but it you can appreciate this more positive style, this is a darling and truly miraculous story.

Marly's father is a war veteran having difficulty recovering emotionally. So the family packs up and moves to her great-grandmother's old house where they meet the Chrises, a maple syrup-making family. Marly immediately falls in love with the countryside, and this book is basically a testament to that love, filled with strange hermit neighbors and a love for the natural world. It's almost a pastoral in that sense.

So, no, there are no horrible dangers or emotional scarring, just a praise of nature and country life. But if one can accept that, he will find an enchanting little story.

This is the kind of book I was afraid I was in for when I decided to read the Newbery books. Well, it was and it wasn't. A white family, looking at the world, saying, "Oh gosh," and "Oh golly," facing issues like the son staying out too late and wondering where he is, facing how to get the big maple sugar crop in before it ruins, and lots and lots of "You can't do that; you're a girl."

But it was also more. Dad was thought killed after time in a war camp, but he returns home, safe but scarred. Marly, the ten-year-old daughter, doesn't listen to all the warnings about girls being unable to do things.

Moving to the country heals. The family develops a deep friendship with an elderly couple nearby. The couple is warm and loving, but does not come across as overly false.

The details about maple sugaring are fun and new. The family heals, and reading about that process feels good. Yes, there are (sorry) sappy parts, but they, too, feel part of the time in which the story was written. Refreshing, somehow.