Customer Reviews

Nobody's Girl

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I just recently finished reading this book. Once I started I didn't want to put it down. This is about a 13 year old girl who goes through a lot of painful changes in her life before finding her grandfather. Even in this there are secrets. She has to find a way for her grandfather to love her before she reveals who she really is.

I first read this book as a young child and have been rereading it once a year ever since. I'm now in my 50s, so you can appreciate the impact this novel of an orphan girl's trials in 19th-century France had upon me. How marvelous were her adventures with her beloved donkey Palikare, her Robinson Crusoe-like existence in a secret hut on an island, and her experiences as a factory girl. This section of the novel allowed the author to explore with great sympathy the miserable plight of the worker in France. All in all, a lyrical, exciting tale that transports the reader into the fully-realized world of a kind, resourceful, and honorable child. Oh, I love this book.

I read this book just 1 time in Vietnamese thirty some years ago
as well as Nobody's boy(Sans famille) but the whole book,I think, will stay for the rest of my life.Now it's time for my daugther to enjoy what I did a long time ago.

"Nobody's girl" is a translation of "En famille" (1893), a wonderful book by French writer Hector Malot (1830-1907).

This book was written a long time ago, but it is highly likely to appeal to children, and engage them in following the adventures of the main character, a girl that lost her parents. This young orphan starts a search for a grandfather she didn't know, and has to travel long distances, learning to survive without her family. Will she find a new one?. Well, that's precisely the point of reading this book :)

On the whole, I think this is an excellent book, and I believe it is a pity that it isn't more well-known in the United States. I read "Nobody's girl" a long time ago, and I simply loved it. I believe your kids will like it immensely too...

Belen Alcat

Beautiful cover illustration as well as thoughout the book. This is one of the great children's books and not as well known as it should be. Takes you back in time in France and makes you realize the greatest fantasy is simply that of another time in history. It is extremely complex and often avoids cliches and very much growth and healing oriented. A nice orphan's adventure. Read this - it is a lovely book.

I first read this book in the 8th grade (back in the 1960s) and absolutely loved it. For a while, I re-read it almost yearly. It's been years now, though, since I last read Nobody's Girl, but the book still holds a warm spot in my heart. Now I'm the mother of 10-year-old twin girls. Recently, I found two copies of the book on one of my many bookshelves (why two? who knows, but I guess it shows how much I like the book). Anyhow, for about the last two weeks, my daughters and I have been sitting together every evening, taking turns reading the pages of the book aloud. Now they, too, are getting caught up in the story of Perrine and her ill mother (who is about to die), her donkey Pelikare, her cart (which is her ragtag home on wheels), and her growing strength as she copes with everything life throws at her. I bet that my daughters will share Nobody's Girl with their own daughters someday--it's that good!

My first encounter with this story went back to the 70's. I watched a Japanese TV animated film "Perrine en Famille" which described the girl's journey to France. The film further enhanced my overall understanding of the story. It is an inspirational book that teaches kids about perserverance and many other precious lessons.

I have read this book twice. Once when I was a teenager and the second time as a Mother. I enjoyed the book as much the first time as the second. The book reads quickly and is very entertaining. I would recommend this book for any young adult.

This story, published previously as The Adventures of Perrine, was passed down to me by my mother who received it from her mother. I had to finally buy a new copy since it has been read so often it is falling apart. I highly recommend it. Perrine's independence challenges commonly held ideas and in the end triumphs over them. Her ingenuity is inspiring.

Beautiful cover illustration as well as throughout the book. This is one of the great children's books and not as well known as it should be. Takes you back in time in France and makes you realize the greatest fantasy is simply that of another time in history. It is extremely complex and often avoids cliches and very much growth and healing oriented. A nice orphan's adventure. Read this - it is a lovely book.