Customer Reviews

Rabble Starkey

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

 

 

Rabble Starkey was an A++ book. One day Rabbles dad ran off with another person and left Rabble and her mom to fend for themselves. So then Rabble finds her and her mom living in the garage of a rich friends house (the Bigelows house). Then Mrs. Bigelow gets sick and has to go to the hospital. If you like suspenseful, fun to read stories than you have to read "Rabble Starkey". Another book I recommend is "Number the Stars", also by Lois Lowry.

Rabble Starkey is my favorite book.In fact, I re-read it last night.
I felt like I knew Rabble,Veronica,Gunther,&Sweet-Ho.It was almost as though I lived in Highriver.It was so realistic and heart-warming.
I really enjoyed reading it.I recommended it to my friends,and they've
been reading it.I loved it!It was so true,so unlike anything I've read before.It was fantastic!

I thought that this was very good book.
Even though there was no specific plot,
the book seemed to be leading to something
at each word written. The book was not full of
action excitement, but it was full of the
kind of excitement that will make you cry or get
scared. To me, this was a book that even after I finished
reading the words, I had to think about
in order to finish the book.-Katharine Manning,
American School In Japan, 6th Grade

I was sadly disappointed that this book was written & marketed for elementary school readers. It was assigned to my 7 year old second grade daughter who is in the accelerated reader program at school.

1. What is the purpose of the paragraph describing how to "flip off" someone?
2. Could you not have left out "dumb-a.."?
3. The paragraphs regarding Mrs. Bigelow being "sewed up down there after giving birth" and "wondering how she would go to the bathroom after being all sewed up" were totally inappropriate.
4. The paragraphs about Mrs. Bigelow baring her breast standing in the middle of the pond, trying to force her 4 year old son to nurse, & baptizing him to the point of almost drowning him were more than inappropriate. Depicting her mental illness could have been told with another story.
5. Rabble sees her Mother & Mr. Bigelow kiss--do we need to promote this to our kids?
6. I understand that it was written in character dialect, but there were very few sentences that were grammatically correct.

I am not living in a shell. I do discuss life's problems with my daughter. I realize she is only 7 reading a book intended for 10 year olds. I wouldn't want her to read it then. I have insisted that the book be read only out loud to me so that I can scan ahead of her & suggest I read every now & then to be able to skip the junk. Actually it has taken her longer than normal to read this book, because she tries to correct all the grammatical errors as she reads.

I have talked with several friends & school personnel. I am requesting that the book be removed from the school's program.