Customer Reviews

Miss Ophelia

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Miss Ophelia was one of the best books I've read this year. It started out slow for me in the beginning, but after reading one-third of the book I had a hard time putting it down. My favorite character was Uncle Willie. He didn't believe in keeping secrets from his 11-year old niece Isabel which I felt was very important. He also had a great sense of humor. When you're open and honest with young people you can prevent them from making the same mistakes you and others have made in the past. I wish someone had done that for me.

This book hit me where the heart is!!! The characters: Belly, Willie, Miss Janie, Miss Rachel, Mama, Uncle Avery, Miss Pheenie, And of course, the lovely and dearest of all, Miss Ophelia. When I first got into the book,( first quarter of the book),It primarily focused on teen pregnancy and the main character (Belly's) best friend, Teenie getting sent away to get "rid of her problem", which hurt Isabel Anderson/Walker.
The way the book portrays Miss Opelia, and her warm and kind personality was so well-written, that in the end, I cried, thinking about the True love that could never be, between...
Oh!!!!! Youre just going to have to read the book and see why most of these people(including myself, of course) rated this book 5 stars.

This is the best book that I have read in a while, and I read a lot of books. It was simply a delight to read. The author did a masterful job of bringing Belly to life and describing her thoughts and feelings. I loved Belly and almost all of the characters in the story; in fact, I felt like I knew many of them. I can't wait to read the author's next book. If you haven't read this one, please, please, please, go out and buy it today!

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are well defined, true to life and memorable. The story was easy to read, well-paced and had interesting sub-plots. I also read Ms. Smith's next book -- Ring Around the Moon -- which I also enjoyed as well.

Being the parent of a 12 year old, "Miss Ophelia" not only brought back memories of my own childhood; it has also reminded me to take time and look at life from my daughter's perspective. Ms. Burnett Smith has beautifully protrayed the innocence of being young and the struggles of coming of age.

My book club recently read "MISS OPHELIA" as our March Book Selection and over 80% of the sistahs in the book club (Circle of Friends II) rated this book a "10". It is a wonderfully written novel that you will find hard to put down. After meeting Belly, her mom, others in the town and Lord...UNCLE WILLIE, you will not be able to put it down until the last page...and then you will be sad...because the story comes to an end. If you are looking for a good book...gift...you definitely need to pick this one up!!!!!

Welcome to Mason County, where even the census takers were baffled when they came to a town where blacks looked white. Isabel is the main character in this story. Every one calls her Belly in Mason County. That all changes when a series of events after her childhood friend Teeny got pregnant, led her to Jamison county to stay with her Aunt Rachel. She takes piano lessons from a woman name Ophelia that calls her Isabel, shows her what a real lady is, wins over her heart, and also the heart of Uncle Avery, Aunt Rachel's husband. This causes a lot of problems in Belly's life and causes her to learn a lot life's lessons pretty early. This book was written very beautifully and opened my heart back up to my childhood. I won't tell the rest of the story but all of the characters were endearing and I'll never forget them.

Revisit childhood and relive it in a marvelous way! I felt that I grew up with Belly during the tale of "Miss Ophelia". After reading how her family interacted with each other, their personalities and histories, I felt like I knew them. I laughed out loud at their antics and conversations. You probably will too!

The book seems to start off a little slow in the beginning, but don't let that fool you. This is one to savor. It takes time to get to know this family and watch Isabel (Belly) come of age. While there were events that many of us could relate to, this book lacked the over-the-top, crazy drama that can be found in some other books about childhood family experiences. How refreshing! Belly actually had a good childhood! It was joy to read about. She also had some tough issues to deal with, and this kept the book grounded in reality.

Belly spent part of an important summer taking piano lessons from Miss Ophelia. Miss Ophelia left a powerful influence on Belly, and their time together was a "defining moment" in Belly's life. The way the author described their interaction and other aspects of Belly's life before and after was beautiful. I could picture everything, but the writing style wasn't too wordy. The style was very natural, and the characters seemed so authentic.

I took my time reading this book and looked forward to reading it every time I picked it up. I felt so contented while reading it and satisfied even after I'd finished it. I highly recommend this book. Reading it is time well spent.

This story is sooooo wonderfully written and told. This is one hot summer that readers will surely enjoy. The summer heat is not just in temperature, the heat also rises from the pages in the form of anger and passion.

This story of young Isabel (Belly) is very endearing. Each summer, Belly visits with her aunt and uncle in rural Virginia. She learns lessons that are never taught in summer school. When Miss Ophelia teaches Belly to play the piano, she also teaches her life lessons about love, friendship, responsibility, and accountability.

Though she appears to be very quiet, Miss Ophelia has deep passions about music and love which she eventually shares with others. You will enjoy the music as well as those who play it!

this book was an excellent read. it captured the whole time era and gracefuly put it into words. the author of this book seems to draw the reader into being a part of the novel. she gives you the sense of being there as a bystander, watching and understanding Belly's life that summer. i love the plot, the use of words and the key message. of friendship. i hope this isn't the last piece of work by this author. i highly recommend this book. you'll never want to put it down, and will continuosly find yourself hoping that it never ends.