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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For better or for worth, March 8, 2006
This review is from: Worth (Hardcover)
You know, you can never have too many awards for works of children's fiction. Sometimes that's the only way you're ever going to find an audience for a perfectly nice but sadly forgotten title. Take, "Worth" as an example. Until it won itself a rather prestigious Scott O'Dell Award For Historical Fiction, I hadn't heard so much as a breath upon the wind about it. It seemed nice enough, of course. But historical fiction is something I find myself unconsciously avoiding. When the O'Dell honor fell upon it, however, I picked "Worth" up for some good reading. What I found proves that no matter how great a book is, if it gets lost in the shuffle then it may remain an exceptional but forgotten title. I'm pleased to see so many kids reviewing it on their own. Hopefully that will mean that "Worth" will become a classic simply by word of mouth.
It all would have been fine if the lightning hadn't come. That was the whole reason why Nathaniel, his father, and his mother were out in the fields working like mad to get their crops in before the rain fell. In his haste to help out, Nate gets his pitchfork stuck in the ground and, in freeing it, happens to be in the way of the horses when the lightening spooks them. The wheel of the wagon and the horses themselves break the boy's leg all to pieces and though he lives he'll never walk the same again. This is a particular problem on a farm where every family member has to pull their own weight. That means Nate has to be replaced by John Worth, an orphan from New York City who's been taken in by Nate's pa. No one likes John, but as Nate slowly begins to learn this stranger's story he crawls a little bit away from his own self-pity and into liking this odd city slicker. It just so happens that Worth's appearance coincides with heightened tensions between the ranchers and the farmers and if everybody isn't careful there's going to be range war. That is, unless Nate and John can stop it.
What sets "Worth" apart from other works of historical fiction is its readability and the fact that it's a great story for kids within a wide range of ages. Standing at a mere 144 pages, it's the ideal length for those kids assigned to do a book report on a book that takes place in the nineteenth century, but who don't want to wade through "Little Women" (not that I have anything AGAINST Alcott but...). As I mentioned before, historical fiction is not my favorite genre. Imagine my surprise then when my hand kept reaching for the book on my coffee table, almost entirely of its own accord. I was even more surprised to find that I wanted to learn more. I wanted to see if and when Worth and Nathaniel would start to get along. I wanted to examine the family dynamics, for crying out loud. Not every book does so much.
I also liked that LaFaye left some questions floating in the wind. At one point Nathaniel wonders why it is that his mother dislikes John Worth so very very much. We never get a good answer to that, except perhaps in knowing that she thinks city children are all murderers and pickpockets. LaFaye is best at being entirely faithful to a historical time period, all the while making it feel rich and alive. You understand roundabouts when this story takes place, but that doesn't make anybody in it less understandable. I did wish that LaFaye had pinned it down to a single year, but as complaints go that one's fairly negligible.
All in all, "Worth" just came as a lovely surprise. The child-gravely-injured-at-the-start-of-the-book genre encompasses such big names as "Johnny Tremain". Now we've another title to bring to the table. Kids will enjoy it (even, I suspect, reluctant readers) and it talks about a historical moment (mainly the Orphan Train) that few books have discussed until now. Well worth (ho ho) discovering.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth, October 5, 2006
A Kid's Review
Nathaniel James lives in the American Midwest on the family farm. He thinks he has it good, until the storm arrives on the plains. As his family tries to save the crops from the wind and devastating rains, a flash of light blinds Nathaniel's eyes. When he awakes, he finds himself screaming in pain, and notices that his leg is red-hot, struck by lightning. When the village doctor arrives, he tells Nathaniel's family that his leg will never properly heal. That starts a chain of downward events that will make him feel miserable. The first is that Nathaniel must go to the village school and learn with a group of first-graders. After limping home and receiving taunts from the schoolchildren, Nathaniel finds his father and his mother arguing. The answer appears when a boy arrives to Nathaniel's farm. Since Nathaniel's leg is forever damaged, his father bought a boy named John Worth from the Orphan Train, who does all of the work that Nathaniel used to do. Feeling like he's been replaced, Nathaniel begins to hate John immedietly. Also, Nathaniel has trouble reading, and even children several years younger than him are able to outperform him in mathematics. Nathaniel becomes so infuriated that he tosses his English book out his window, only to hear John's attempt to pronounce words. Things become worse until he meets a Greek girl named Anemone, and borrows a book from her on Greek myths to help him read. As things for Nathaniel begins to improve, the situation within the community is bleak. A war is about to begin between the farmers and the ranchers. Over a long rivalry with the Danver and Gantry family, and asa result, several farms and ranches have been damaged. However, there is a more personal struggle, as Nathaniel hits John after both begin to shout at each other. The threads of calm can be easily broken, which can be shown when several people begin to invade Nathaniel's farm and cut the fence dividing the two neighboring properties. However, Nathaniel and John learn to work together as the catch the criminals. In the end, Nathaniel discovers that his father will officialy adopt John as part of the family. Worth, by A. LaFaye, is an excellent novel because of its excellent historical depictions, its characters, and for its excellent plot.
This novel by A. LaFaye contains a great amount of historical fiction. The novel constantly contains vast stretches of pages that can inform the reader with our nation's past. One section talks about the war between the farmers and the ranchers, which actually took place throughout much of the American Midwest. Also, there a reference to the Orphan Train, where John Worth was taken from to live with Nathaniel's family. And life on the Great Plains was perfectly described as well.
Worth also has a substantial line of characters that make the novel what it is. The main character, Nathaniel, is a simple farm boy who gets his leg struck by lighting, which in turn changes his life forever. Nathaniel then has to go to school several years late and face humiliation. The next character, John Worth, was born in New York City and lost his family to a horrible fire. Due to this, John is a shy, mild-tempered boy who would rather be an accountant than be a farmer. However, both set aside their differences and work together to solve an ever-growing problem.
Worth, by A. LaFaye, contains an excellent plot that will entertain the reader and encourage him/her to keep on reading. The plot contains vast amounts of suspense, action, and adventure that will keep the reader off the edge of his or her seat. One moment is during the bloody fist-fight which was one of the most climatic points in the novel. And finally, when the fence cutters invade, the real suspense begins.
Worth, written by A. LaFaye is an excellent novel to read because of its plot, its description of characters, and of its historical qualities. It is a story where a young boy finds the true meaning of life. I rate this novel a total of 4 stars out of 5.
A. Chappell
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth is worth it!, April 6, 2005
This review is from: Worth (Hardcover)
This book is about a boy named Nate who is a farmer's son. Nate likes helping his father on the farm. One stormy day Nate was working with his father and a wagon ran over his leg leaving him crippled. When Nate gets better he goes to school because he can't work on the farm. Nate's father brings a boy home to do all of Nate's work named John Worth. This makes Nate feel worthless to his father so he starts hating John. At school Nate finds out a war is starting with kids and adults against other kids and adults but he just stays out of it and meets two Greek kids. They are picked on just like him so he makes friends with one of them. Nate has to face school and John. Maybe Nate hasn't learned enough about John to know whether or not he really hates him.
I liked the parts in the book that were happy because those parts didn't come very often. I also liked the parts that are about Nate with his Greek friend. The sad parts are okay but not as good as the others. One of my favorite parts of the book is when Nate meets the Greek kids because its happy for the first time and it is something good that happened to Nate.
There were some very unrealistic parts in the story that I didn't like. For example, when people were laughing and all was happy Nate continued to think to himself that he hated John Worth. I also disliked some of the sad parts because Nate's family treated John like a boy treating ants with a magnifying glass, with John being the ant.
I liked this book a lot so I'd actually give it a 4 ½ out of 5.
Fairfax, California
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