Snap [Hardcover]

Alison McGhee (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

A sensitive girl comes to terms with loss-and learns something about lasting ties — in this genuine, gracefully told story.

Name: Edwina Stiles Beckey.
Nickname: Eddie.
Age: Eleven.
Hometown: North Sterns, New York, in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains.
Best Friend: Sally Hobart.
Favorite Activity: Making lists.

Eddie Beckey makes lists for just about everything and everyone in her life. And for matters of real importance, she wears (and snaps) an array of colored rubber bands on her wrist. Unfortunately, the world is not always so orderly and knowable. No list can help her cope with what’s happening to her best friend, Sally — or change the course of things for Sally’s grandmother, whom Eddie has grown to love and depend on as well. With subtlety and insight, novelist Alison McGhee tells the story of a young girl’s first encounter with grief, and of the enduring power of friendship.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-In the summer before seventh grade, Edwina Beckey keeps her world in order by making lists and wearing colored rubber bands on her wrist to snap when she needs reminding (to quit tipping back in chairs, to stop covering her mouth when she laughs). There's an enigmatic sixth purple one, too, but Eddie doesn't share its true meaning. She also counts on her best friend, Sally, to be there for her. But Sally's beloved grandmother, Willie, who has raised Sally and performed such loving tasks as braiding her hair, is dying. While Sally angrily begins to try to shed memories of everything important to her, Eddie struggles against changes, to keep her friendship intact, and to accept Willie's imminent death herself. At the story's emotional crest, Eddie has shed her lists and no longer needs the rubber bands. She uses them to braid and fasten Sally's hair, and reveals the special meaning of the last one. A number of metaphors weave through the story: a "meander" or small stream that changes its banks, talismans for keeping dogs and death away, and others. Snap would make a strong discussion book for small-group reading. Like Kevin Henkes's Olive's Ocean (Greenwillow, 2003), it features memorable characters and a tolerance for eccentricity, emotional subtlety and complexity, themes of acceptance of death and love, and a spare and poetic text that begs to be reread and savored.-Susan Hepler, Burgundy Farm Country Day School, Alexandria, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 4-6. Edwina Beckly wears rubber bands on her arm; she snaps them to remind herself of things. The white one reminds her to cover her mouth when she laughs; the yellow one is so she won't tip back in chairs; the blue one helps her remember to think of her best friend Sally's grandmother as Willie, a person in her own right. Willie is on Eddie's mind a lot because she has a blood disease that is killing her. Who will take care of Sally when Willie dies? Jill, Sally's mother, is young and barely speaks. Who will braid Sally's hair? The story is pregnant with tragedy, but it's not so much what happens as the way McGhee, the author of three adult books, writes it. Her writing is precise, evocative, and sure, and although the story is told from the point of view of an 11-year-old, there's a purity of thought that exceeds much of what is presented in middle-grade fiction. Yet, despite this level of sophistication, Eddie and Sally both seem very real. The understated tone of the narrative draws readers near, as when one leans close to hear someone speaking softly. Children will come away thinking they have heard something quite profound about love, fear, and hope for the future. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick; 1st edition (March 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763620025
• ISBN-13: 978-0763620028
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,529,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alison McGhee is the New York Times bestselling author of SOMEDAY, LITTLE BOY, BYE-BYE CRIB, ALWAYS and A VERY BRAVE WITCH. Her other children's books include ALL RIVERS FLOW TO THE SEA, COUNTDOWN TO KINDERGARTEN, SNAP, and the JULIA GILLIAN series, about the adventures of a girl who lives in Minneapolis.

Alison is also an award-winning novelist of the adult novels WAS IT BEAUTIFUL? A NOVEL; FALLING BOY; RAINLIGHT; and the Today Show book club selection, SHADOW BABY.She lives in Minneapolis, MN.

You can find her at her website and also on Facebook under Alison McGhee, Author.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars might be challenging for YA readers, May 15, 2004

By 

Joe Sherry (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Snap (Hardcover)

I understand that I'm not the target audience for this book, but as a fan and supporter of the work of Alison McGhee, I want to give everything she writes a chance. This is a young adult novel aimed at the late elementary/junior high school age. "Snap", though written for a younger audience, is just as good as McGhee's full length, adult novels.

Edwina Beckey is eleven years old. She makes lists for everything: herself, her friends, things she likes, her school day. This is how she makes the world understandable. She also wears rubber bands on her wrist to remind herself of things she wants to remember (don't tip back on your chair, don't cover your mouth when you laugh), and she snaps them whenever she needs a reminder. She is friends with Sally Hobart. When something changes in Sally's life, it changes how Edwina looks at hers and why she makes lists and snaps her rubber bands.

Having read McGhee's other novels, it came as no surprise to see how powerful this story was and how real the emotions McGhee describes feel. This may be a challenging book for a YA reader because of the issues dealt with in the book, but it is a very well written book with believable characters who react in believable ways to the events of the novel. Like McGhee's other novels, this one is also set near Sterns by the Adirondack Mountains and references are made to characters from her novels.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, but not for her intended audience, April 10, 2004

By 

"mailsarahf" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Snap (Hardcover)

Snap is incredibly written. McGhee has great insight into what goes through a person's mind when faced with the imminent death of a loved one. But I'm not convinced that a 10-year-old will be as moved by McGhee's writing as a middle-schooler might be.

Eddie and Sally are real kids- inquisitive, emotional, and fragile at times, while being active and content and even silly at others. The characters are a highlight of the book.

The resolution of the story strays from the more predictable options McGhee could have taken, and ends with a nice twist.

I would recommend this book, but not to a casual reader. This is a book for kids (girls, more likely) who are avid readers, and who aren't afraid to grapple with difficult issues.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Memorable Characters!, June 24, 2008

By 

Sandra McLeod Humphrey "Children's Author and... (Minnetonka, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Snap (Paperback)

This is definitely a book to be savored and reread. Each of the characters is memorable in her own right and the interaction between them is depicted with great poignancy. Although this is a novel about death and dying and loss, it is primarily a novel about friendship and relationships. The writing is beautiful and this is a story that will remain very much with you long after you close the book.