What Jamie Saw (Newbery Honor Book) [Paperback]

Carolyn Coman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Newbery Honor Book | Publication Date: 1995

Jamie is devastatingly exposed to domestic violence when another member of his family tries to hurt his baby sister, and Jamie and his mother must protect themselves while coming to terms with what has happened.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What third-grader Jamie saw-his baby sister being hurled across the room by his stepfather, Van-is the first image in this heart-wrenching book. What follows are the effects of the incident on the boy: his relief when baby Nin is caught, miraculously, by his mother, Patty; his gratitude and anxiety when Patty moves them out of the abusive household; and, most powerful of all, his underlying fear that Van will find their new home, a friend's trailer, where Jamie, Patty and Nin live like "sitting ducks." Coman so deftly slips into the skin of her main character that he seems almost to be dictating to her. The opening sentence, for example-"When Jamie saw him throw the baby, saw Van throw the baby, saw Van throw the little baby, saw Van throw his little sister Nin, when Jamie saw Van throw his baby sister Nin, then they moved"-reveals Jamie's befuddled state and his efforts to make sense out of inexplicable violence. All of the protagonist's thoughts and reactions ring true. Although its plot is not as far-reaching as that of the author's first novel, Tell Me Everything, this work too seems to spring directly from Coman's heart into the reader's own. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9?With wrenching simplicity and mesmerizing imagery, Coman articulates nine-year-old Jamie's baffled, stream-of-consciousness observations of a violent act that robs him of his security, but not his innocence. Awakened in the middle of the night by some primal sense of alarm, the sleep-disoriented boy watches his stepfather reach into his baby sister's crib and throw her across the room. And then he watches his mother step into the bedroom doorway and catch her flying baby. Patty deposits her pajama-clad children into the safety of her rusty old Buick, collects the bare necessities, and leaves. With the help of her friend Earl, Jamie's teacher, and even her mother-in-law, Patty finds her way back to work and into a support group for battered wives. In a trailer out in the middle of nowhere, she and Jamie tough it out, slowly reinventing their lives. Revealed through the boy's clear, unprejudiced eye, characters, though rough and uneducated, are not stereotyped. It is Jamie who is most delicately and lovingly wrought. His love of magic tricks, illusion, and sleight of hand sustains him through the bad times. Shocking in its simple narration and child's-eye view, What Jamie Saw is a bittersweet miracle in understated language and forthright hopefulness.?Alice Casey Smith, Sayreville War Memorial High School, NJ
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 126 pages
• Publisher: Front Street; 1st edition (1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886910022
• ISBN-13: 978-1886910027
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #502,166 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jamesean book for young and adult readers, January 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: What Jamie Saw (Paperback)

Those complaining about a lack of action miss the boat--and it doesn't matter whether they're sixth graders or sixty year olds. The book is not driven by event, but by perception, and, just like "What Maisie Knew," whose title it echoes, the point is to show us how Jamie thinks and feels about a situation beyond his control and in some senses beyond his ability to make sense. No, it's not full of Harry Potter-ish magic (which I do like) or graphic violence, it asks its readers, in language young readers CAN understand, to value spending some time inside someone else's mind and emotions.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well-written book on a difficult subject, August 19, 2000

By 

ellensden "living in Dallas, Texas" (Dallas, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Jamie Saw (Paperback)

Carolyn Coman has written an excellent book on a subject many people are rightly aghast at. Still children by the age of nine have seen and heard much, and most will be able to make sense of this book and its language. Like One Hundred Dresses this Newberry Honor Book will demand a degree of maturity from its young reader, and I have met many children who have the intellectual capacity to understand this book.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book deals with child abuse., August 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: What Jamie Saw (Newbery Honor Book) (Paperback)

This book deals with the abusive behavior within a family. The family consists of a mother: Patty, a father: Van, a step-son of Van's: Jamie a 3rd grader, and a daughter of Van's: Nin a baby. Jamie wittnesses his step-father Van throwing his step-sister Nin across the room. His mother, Patty, immediately takes the children out of the house. It's freezing cold, December and Christmas is nearning. She is careful to bring warm clothes and blankets. She also brought the children's toys as well as Jamie's magic book. Jamie loves to perform magic.

A friend Earl helps them by giving them an old trailer in the woods to live in. The trailer has very little comforts. Patty has very little money. Jamie is kept out of school for several days while he and his mother cope with their situation. Patty tries to make ends meet by working part-time at the local A&P gorcery store. Jamie's teacher comes to find out why he's not in school and how she can help. She offers to keep! Jamie after school on Tuesdays so Patty can attend a self-help group.

The devestated family has very little to eat let alone spend on Christmas. Patty wants to make their Christmas enjoyable but can't afford to buy to much. The family decorates a small pine tree outside their trailer with makeshift oranments. Also, their friend Earl comes just before Christmas and brings a few gifts for them. Jamie gets a pair of ice skates. Earl and Jamie skate on a nearby pond. They have wonderful time. For a moment Jamie forgets his pain, forgets what he saw.

Jamie is sadden by his situation and lives in constant terror that Van will find them and hurt Nin. Jamie loves Nin and his mother and wants the pain to stop. Van locates the family and comes to make peace with them one day when Jamie is left alone to tend to Nin. Jamie is frieghtened that Van will break in the trailer door and hurt or possibly kill them. In desperation he hides a sleeping Nin under the only bed in the trailer, ! being careful not to wake her, for he fears her cries may a! lert Van to their presences. Van comes into the trailer and Jamie tries to act as if Nin isn't there. Jamie now fears that his mother will come home and Van will hurt her too, so he tries to distract Van by showing him magic tricks. Jamie loves to perform magic. His mother Patty comes home and finds Van in the trailer with her children. She demands that Van leave them alone. He leaves without incident and this is when Jamie, Nin, and Patty realize that they made the right the choice to leave a bad situation.

This book is heartwarming, but only at the end. It is descriptive when outlining the abusive situation; therefore, I recommend that a parent or teacher be present to answer any questions a child may have. Child abuse it something that is ever present in out society and must be dealt with. This book can faciliate a meaningful decision on the topic. Their is so much more to this book. It's only a 126 pages, but it says a lot. Enjoy!!!