Pictures 1918 [Mass Market Paperback]

Jeanette Ingold (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2000

Coming of age in a rural Texas community in 1918, fifteen-year-old Asia assists in the local war effort, contemplates romance with a local boy, and expands her horizons through her pursuit of photography.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up-A novel set in rural Texas during World War I. The story begins with a suspicious barnyard fire that claims the life of Asia's beloved pet rabbit. In the days that follow, the teen's longtime friend, Nick Grissom, and his cousin Boy, who has just moved in with Nick's family, compete for her attention. Asia senses that there is something dangerous about Boy, and soon realizes that her feelings for Nick run deep. Meanwhile, she sees a Kodak Autographic camera in the drugstore window, earns the money to purchase it, begins to experiment, and eventually becomes an apprentice to the town photographer. Woven into this story line are subplots about other unexplained fires, Asia's grandmother's growing dementia, concerns about the war, and the limitations set on women at the time. The dominant theme of Asia's desire to take pictures is slow moving, and readers may wonder when the camera will play a larger role. However, the characters are believable and unique. The author presents Grandmama in an especially realistic and endearing way, addressing her gradual dementia and its effects on her granddaughter. Boy's anger is explained as his past is revealed. Through the first-person narrative, Asia shares her thoughts and insights. This novel should appeal to those who enjoy historical fiction with a little romance. Although events unfold slowly, Ingold draws readers in and makes them want to know and understand the characters as they grow and change.
Susan Knell, Pittsburgh State University, Pittsburgh, KS
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 6^-9. Growing up during World War I, 15-year-old Asia falls in love immediately with the Kodak Autographic Camera in the window at Peats Pharmacy and, more gradually, with her old friend and neighbor, Nick. The plot thickens as she deals with different challenges: learning photography; the strictures placed upon young ladies; and her confused emotions about Nick and his cousin, Boy. There is also the issue of the fires an arsonist is setting in Asia's west Texas community. As she grows in confidence and understanding, Asia finds strength in her relationship with her grandmother and in the power of her art to reveal truth. Ingold weaves several strand of plot into a convincing narrative, but it is the fine characterization, particularly of Asia and her grandmother, that lies at the heart of this satisfying novel. At its best, the novel captures the nuances of ambivalent relationships, as well as the clarity of vision, that people can sometimes achieve. For Asia, it is usually through her photographs. Carolyn Phelan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (April 24, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141306955
• ISBN-13: 978-0141306957
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,989,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Growing up, I liked cameras, my violin, reading, traveling, and running games. I flirted with becoming an actor (briefly, early, before playing a shadow, a flower, and a penguin). I didn't think about writing until I landed in a newsroom, assigned to obituaries, but it's been a straight line since.
I put a modern newsroom in my new novel, PAPER DAUGHTER. I hope you'll enjoy it and my other books for young adults. They include HITCH, a Christopher Award winner, and THE BIG BURN, historical fiction that VOYA called, "A must-read for adrenalin junkies."
Please visit me at www.jeanetteingold.com.

JEANETTE INGOLD's popular fiction for teens and middle school readers includes THE WINDOW, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and International Reading Association Young Adults' Choice; PICTURES, 1918, a Texas Lone Star Reading List book; AIRFIELD, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age; MOUNTAIN SOLO, a Missouri Mark Twain Award nominee and Texas TAYSHAS book; THE BIG BURN, a Montana Book Award Honor Book and winner of a Western Writers of America Spur Award for Juvenile Fiction; HITCH, a Society of School Librarians International Best Book; and PAPER DAUGHTER, recipient of an Oppenheimer Gold Seal.
Her short stories include "Moving On," in TIME CAPSUE: SHORT STORIES ABOUT TEENAGERS THROUGHOUT THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, edited by Donald R. Gallo; and "Word Drift," in XANADU 3, edited by Jane Yolen.
She lives and writes in Montana.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterfully Written!, June 14, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Pictures 1918 (Mass Market Paperback)

The story starts on the night of a fire that destroys the chicken house of 17 year old Asia. The fire also destroys Asia's beloved baby jackrabbit Straw Bit. Afterwards she sees a camara in the window of a store and decides that one way, or another, she'll get that camara. If only she had had it before, she would have had a picture of Straw Bit, and one of the figure she saw running away from the burning building.The book explores Asia's confusion as two boys compete for her affection: Nick, the boy she has known all her life, and the other,Nick's cousin, a stranger from out of town. While she struggles express her feelings with photography,other fires rage across her small town, and she watches as the lifestyle she has known forever threatens to blow away like ashes in the wind.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellant book., September 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Pictures, 1918 (Hardcover)

Fifteen year old Asia is shocked when someone burns down her family's chicken house. Asia knows almost everyone in her small Texas town during World War 1. Who would do something so terrible? Worst of all, Asia's pet rabbit died in the fire, and Asia grieves for him. When she sees a fancy camera in a store window, she longs for it, so she can take pictures of everyone else, before they go away. Asia determines to buy that camera - and to discover the mystery of who set fire to the chicken house.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pictures, 1918, September 15, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Pictures 1918 (Mass Market Paperback)

Pictures, 1918 Book Review

The book I read was called Pictures, 1918. It is a wholesome book written by Jeanette Ingolds. This story's setting takes place in Dust Crossing, Texas during the first World War which occurred during the early 1900s. The main character Asia McKinna is a sixteen year old who endures a fire in her chicken house where her beloved rabbit is killed. Asia wishes that she could have taken a picture of the rabbit to have a visual remembrance of him. She also wants to have a picture of her close friend Nick Grissom who is going off to college at A&M or war. This leads her to wanting an Autographic camera that is displayed at Mr. Riley's camera shop. By babysitting and doing odd jobs for her mother and grandmother, she tries to earn money to buy the camera that she so desperately needs. Between all this Asia is dealing with problems at home. Her family is still trying to figure out who set fire to their chicken house. Asia is also terrified that Nick will get sent to Germany to fight in the war, or go to college. Asia doesn't want him to go because she will miss him and have no one else to talk to but her sister May and annoying brother Homer. Her grandmother's debilitating illness makes her and her family feel preoccupied. Asia's grandmother is suffering from Alzheimer's which wasn't known as a disease back then. Along with this Asia has to deal with Boy Blackwell, Nick's cousin who is furious with the war. I really enjoyed this book because it was so well written and interesting. I think this would be an awesome book for you to read so go and check it out.