Customer Reviews

Roller Skates (Newbery Library, Puffin)

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

 

 

I've never been to the Big Apple, but I wish I could visit the Old New York explored by gallant Lucinda in her magical "orphan" year, rather than the modern one. It is sad to think that the statue of Diana that Lucinda loved, proudly standing watch over Madison Square Garden, is now gathering dust in a museum...
And I must say I am baffled by reviewers who feel that Lucinda is not touched or affected by the two tragedies that darken her life during the course of the narrative. This is one of the most realistic and moving accounts of a child's reaction to death - frightened, confused yet bravely hopeful - that I have read.

I don't remember the first time I read this book or, rather, had it read to me. But I'm 24 now and I probably re-read it every 18 months or so. It's just that good.

Lucinda is one of the best characters in children's literature. She's not a beautiful girl (though you can tell she'll grow into a striking and riveting woman), but she's got an entirely generous spirit and energy saved up from a lifetime of restraint. She manages to have both entirely unique and exciting experiences that few people would (or should) ever share and to make everyday things into adventures. What's more, through the book she truly grows and changes, not any more than a girl of 10 years old should, but just enough.

Her adventures bring to life 1890s New York, both familiar as the city we know now and completely different in scale. One amazing thing, if you think about it, is that this book is set just about 15 or 20 years after the first of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books, so perhaps Laura was a young married woman during Lucinda's orphan year. And yet think of the difference in the lives they lived! You wouldn't think it was the same country, even.

It's true that there are some difficult parts in this book. Lucinda does lose friends, one of them violently. But, speaking as someone with a clear memory of being read this book as a child, it's handled so as not to be traumatizing. Lucinda doesn't fully understand or absorb her friend's murder; neither did I, because it's so sensitively written that as a child you realize only that something awful has happened that you _shouldn't_ quite understand. If you tend to underestimate your children, if you want to "protect" them from being thinking people able to live fully in the world, you may want to protect them from this book. My parents thought more of me, and I'm glad of it. Lucinda has been a great friend to me.

I have loved this book ever since I first read it 15 years ago. I still read it every few months; its episodic nature makes it ideal for picking up and skimming when you have a few spare moments. The characterisations are fabulous; Lucinda's adventures still make me smile; I cannot say things wonderful enough about _Roller Skates_. It is an almost perfect book: thoughtful and whimsical by turns, and beautiful in its detail. Read it!

Ruth Sawyer has a way with words!

A wonderful storyteller, she brings the reader into the early-1890s world of ten-year-old Lucinda, "orphaned" for a year because of her mother's illness and living temporarily (by her parents' arrangement, though one might overlook this) in a sphere quite different from her wealthy, society upbringing.

Mrs. Sawyer paints in bright word-colors the complex character of this intelligent, temperamental and exuberant child (herself, evidently!) discovering life outide New York City's high society.

This is not "tame" reading, however; Lucinda's experiences are not all happy and uplifting. Lucinda is more like a real girl than most children's-fiction figures, and her hot-headedness, tendency toward self-pity, and impulsiveness become a challenge to her. There are tragedies, including an abrupt, brutal (and largely unexplained) murder, in Lucinda's roller-skating year.

One comes away with the impression - further developed in the sequel, "The Year of Jubilo" - that Lucinda will never quite be "tame," either, although she will have the heart and the character of a true person of quality.

The other members of Lucinda's substitute family are, happily, given three dimensions as well - like Uncle Earle, content in his wealth but sad at the snobbery such wealth can bring; Tony, the gifted fruit-stand boy who becomes Lucinda's best friend for the year; the patrol officer and the cab driver who begin to see Lucinda as a real person and not just a "rich kid"; the Misses Peters, whose hearts are as large as their home is small; the Browdowskis, who become so significant in her life.

Parents, of course, need to read the book first. As with most older books, they also need to educate their young readers about the racial and ethnic stereotyping that has been such a part of the social mentality. And the book is so much more fun is you give your youngsters a little history! Help them find out about Louis Sherry, Edward McDowell, Jay Gould, and other New York figures of the time that are mentioned.

Such work is not too difficult, and it definitely gives rewards: the enjoyment of a lively and tender story, and the refreshment of one very well told. Lucinda herself would probably say it's "elegant"!

I just finished listening to the recorded version of this book with Kate Forbes as narrator--she did a great job. Overall, I liked this book. I admit that some of the depictions of people are not exactly politically correct in the 21st century, but you have to remember that this was a book written in 1936 about the 1890's, and that's the way people thought back then. The bigger picture is that in most ways, the main character, Lucinda, transcends these barriers of class and befriends people that her snobby family wouldn't approve of. Also, there's a very touching part at the end of the book that explains how Lucinda was an unwanted fifth child in her family, that her family considered her homely and unladylike; yet she managed to rise above these hurtful attitudes and become herself--not what other people wanted or expected her to be. I think this is a great message for children, or for adults for that matter. I don't know why the murder part was included in the story--it did seem somewhat out of place. This book would probably be read by an 11 or 12 year old; and in this day and age, the murder will seem very tame.

An oddly subversive little piece of work for its original 1936 publication date. The story centers on a little girl in 189? named Lucinda. With her cropped black hair, sailor hat, and roller skates she is a perfect little tomboy. From the minute her parents leave her in capable hands in September to their eventual return in June, Lucinda finds herself free of the rules that will eventually twist her from a free spirit into a "lady". In this blissful state of freedom, Lucinda makes friends with the working class, the poor, and those of other ethnicities. She is the first to find the body of a murdered friend, she pulls practical jokes, and she challenges all notions of propriety.

The book is well-written, and must've been a little shocking for its time. It's not every Newbery winner in which the 10-year-old protagonist condemns her prissy aunt to hell (unintentionally, mind you) on one page and sings a bawdy sailor song on the next. Especially impressive is the range of people Lucinda befriends. From the Irish to the Italians to a Chinese woman married to a white man. However, author Ruth Sawyer is as much a victim of her times as anyone else. Lucinda knows plenty of black servants, but she doesn't seem to see any need to befriend them. The Chinese woman she shares the company of is referred to as a "heathen" and is eventually stabbed in the back. This act makes Lucinda a little sad but not overly so. In fact, Lucinda doesn't really feel sadness particularly well, unless it is transformed into anger. When a small child who lives above her dies, she takes the news without so much as a tear.

Children reading this book may have some difficulty keeping the names of the wide range of people presented in it straight. Certainly I had to continually flip back a couple pages every so often to remember exactly who such n' such a person was. The people in this book get about a sentence of description and then are launched into the story head first (something that kids will probably have problems keeping up with). But otherwise, this is a pretty rollicking book. Lucinda hardly sits down for even a second, and the story runs over hill and dale just to keep up with her. Plus, it has the added bonus of displaying a female character pulling a very funny practical joke on her school. A rarity in any day or age.

In the end, Lucinda is forced by her Italian street vendor friend to acknowledge that once her parents return she will never be able to mingle with people from all walks of life. It is a sad moment for her, and it's a pity that Sawyer attributes classism with maturity. Or maybe I'm not giving the author enough credit. Maybe Sawyer is saying that in the late nineteenth-century there were elements of society that made this sad fact true. I don't know the answer. In any case, "Roller Skates" is a surprisingly good book with a spunky gal who won't easily slip from the reader's mind. Multiple interpretations of it can exist, and for that reason it is clearly a classic.

This was a really nice book, though differnt. My mom first read it to me when I was younger, and she really loved it, and cried in two parts. I would defenitly suggest this book for younger readers.

This is a great story for all children that describes Lucinda's year of temporary orphanage in New York City in the 1890's.

If I had to pick one character to be out of all the books I've read, Lucinda would be it. This is a great book and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Roller Skates is a charming story, set in New York City during the 1890's. 10-year-old Lucinda's parents have gone to Europe for a year and have left her in the care of Miss Peters. Lucinda is not exactly ladylike. She prefers to roller skate everywhere she goes, which greatly displeases her Aunt Emily. Aunt Emily is set on turning tomboy Lucinda into a clone of her "docile, ladylike daughters." Naturally, Lucinda avoids her aunt whenever possible, preferring to spend her time with Mr. Gilligan, the handsome cab driver, Patrolman M'Gonegal, Elise, known to Lucinda as Princess Zayda, her little friend Trinket, and Tony, whose father owns a fruit stand. Lucinda meets new people wherever she goes. She is very inquisitive and enjoys exploring the world around her. The story ends when Lucinda's parents return from Europe. Lucinda is sad and wishes that she could stay 10-years-old forever. She was away from her awful family, who never appreciated the wonderful person she is. She was allowed to be her true self, and everyone she came in contact with was captivated by her. It is a year she will never forget.

Lucinda is a great main character. Even though the story takes place long ago, I think children can identify with her. During the 1890's, young girls of society were supposed to be prim and proper. Lucinda was defiant and headstrong. She was allowed to do as she pleased, including roller-skating to every destination and dirtying up her petticoats. Children often exhibit this type of behavior, or wish that they could.

I gave this book three stars because there are a few tragedies that occur in this story, which may be unsettling to younger children. Also, some may find the language in the book unconfortable. Princess Zayda is referred to as, "the heathen Chinee," and she has a "dark maid servant." I understand this is the way people spoke 100 years ago, but some people may not want to share this with young children. This book could be used to introduce 5th or 6th grade students to our predecessors way of life.