From School Library Journal
Grade 6 Up-This collection of short stories, all by granddaughters, is really a collection of memories, with some liberties taken. Many of the writers were able, often for the first time, to see their grandmothers as women of a different time who profoundly influenced their lives. The 12 selections are moving in many ways. An old painting in the basement allows Cynthia Leitich Smith to see her grandmother for who she really is, and to see herself in a new light as well. Minfong Ho shows how her grandmother's life in Singapore, so completely different from her own in upstate New York, is still so strongly connected. Diane Stanley uses her grandmother's own words to describe a very unusual childhood. Beverley Naidoo pieces together a picture of the mentally ill grandmother she met briefly before her death. Ji-Li Jiang and Alma Flor Ada share stories of women who were politically and socially active until their deaths. Each story (except for Beverly Cleary's) is followed by a brief author's note bringing a bit more insight to the story. Simple but evocative pen-and-ink drawings suggest old family photographs rescued from a dusty album. While this anthology features characters who are several generations removed from today's readers, many of the concerns are universal and the appeal should be broad.
Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System, FLCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gr. 6-12. "Perhaps the mystery of grandmothers is related to the past we never knew, including the inconceivable fact that our parents were once children," writes Christensen in this powerful anthology of family stories. The selections, written by some of the best-known authors of children's books--among them, Beverly Cleary, Diane Stanley, and Jean Craighead George--vary in viewpoint. Some are written from a confused child's perspective, some from a reverential adult's. In her beautiful essay, Minfong Ho muses about the difficulties of leaving a homeland behind and wonders about her grandmother, who also left her birth country. Cynthia Leitich Smith discovers her grandmother's free, vampy past. Many of the stories read like letters of praise, gratitude, and love to grandmothers who died before the words could be said. But some, such as Gail Carson Levine's excellent selection, make layers of family tension real and recognizable. A fine collection that will encourage teens to reflect on their own families and recognize the individuals behind the family roles.
Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
