That Wild Berries Should Grow [Paperback]

Gloria Whelan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 2003 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Elsa is a precocious fifth-grade girl who cannot imagine living anywhere but amid the hustle and bustle of busy downtown Detroit. Even in the midst of the Great Depression there are many exciting things to occupy her time. But when the prescription for a sudden illness includes spending the summer at her grandparents' country cottage beside Lake Huron, Elsa must learn to find excitement in "empty" places. Discover with Elsa a summer full of simple yet wonderful new experiences: tending her own garden, fishing on the big lake, exploring a mysterious gully, making new friends, learning to walk barefoot, and picking wild berries. When Elsa returns to the big city at summer's end, will her life ever be the same again?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1933, Elsa and her parents are suffering through the Depression. Her father has been unemployed for months, and she herself has been so ill that she's missed half of fifth grade. The family decides that Elsa will leave Detroit and spend the summer with her grandparents in the country. The girl dislikes the arrangement--for one thing, Grandmamma always seems so stern--and initially she feels homesick and misses city amusements. She takes up poetry (samples of which begin each chapter), and gradually grows to appreciate nature's sweet wonders--and her kind-hearted relatives. Whelan's lightweight story has little plot, although it touches on serious themes. Economic hardships are widespread, as is ethnic prejudice: Elsa's (Christian) grandparents, who emigrated from Germany well before WW I, describe being victimized and labeled anti-American during that war; one of Elsa's country friends refers to Grandpapa as a Kraut; Grandpapa and Grandmamma worry constantly for Jewish friends still in Berlin. But even with the political subplots, this novel may be too mild to sustain the attention of the intended audience. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Whelan evokes a 1933 Michigan summer with vivid descriptions and warmly wrought characters. Elsa (of indeterminate age-too young to like boys, old enough to write stories and poems) has been ill. Her parents send her to stay with her German-born grandparents, whose cottage is by a lake, where there is nothing to do. Against the background of Depression worries and Hitler's rise to power in Germany, Elsa comes to embrace the rhythms of country life and the special qualities of her grandparents. Mild, steady grandpappa paints flowers and names the trees in the orchard while industrious grandmamma grows impatient with her granddaughter's reading only because she can't read well in English herself. Elsa's summer diary is really a series of stories, each preceded by a free-verse poem. Images shine like spots of color: the girl dancing to her grandfather's violin; the taste of wild berries and potatoes fried with bacon; the smell of fish on her hands. The drama here is that of days passing and of Elsa growing to understand more of the world and the people around her. A gentle, authentic slice of childhood with the timeless feel of summer.
Sally Bates Goodroe, Houston Public Library
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 118 pages
• Publisher: Eerdmans Books For Young Readers (October 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802852548
• ISBN-13: 978-0802852540
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,190,373 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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