So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, An Irish Mill Girl, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1847 (Dear America Series) (Library Binding)

by Barry Denenberg (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8. The story of 14-year-old Mary Driscoll's escape from the famine in her native County Cork, Ireland, and her new life working in a textile mill in Lowell, MA, is presented in brief diary entries dated from April to November 1847. The purpose of using a diary format seems to be to allow enough white space on the page to keep readers from being daunted by the flat language and plodding plot. The author uses expressions and Irish-like syntax to give the effect of an Irish's girl's language. Unfortunately, the effort does not convey the rhythm of Irish speech. Despite the book's shortcomings, it is chock-full o' historical facts and background. Denenberg works in the natural and political causes of the Irish potato famine, the dangers and discomforts of overseas passage, and class differences in 1840s America, among other themes. An appendix includes more historical information, such as a popular song of the day and pictures of the architecture and fashions.?Rebecca O'Connell, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Critically acclaimed author Barry Denenberg turns a sharp eye on life for a young Irish immigrant at the Lowell Mill.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Library Binding: 170 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc. (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590926675
• ISBN-13: 978-0590926676
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #578,751 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The Dear America Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real life in 1847, January 25, 2001

By	Kurt A. Johnson (Marseilles, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book is one of the Dear America Series, which is a collection of historical fiction books, written in the form of diaries of young girls living during different periods in American history. This book tells the story of Mary Driscoll, a young Irish girl who comes to America to escape the dreaded Potato Famine. It is Black '47, and Mary sees the death and social damage that the Great Hunger is inflicting on her country. She then experiences emigration to America, with all of its hazards, and gets a job in a pre-safety laws textile mill.

This book is not for one wanting happy stories and happy endings. Holding back no punches, it portrays mid-Nineteenth Century life is all of its unvarnished actuality. Containing no sex or unnecessary violence, it is suitable for young readers, the 9-12 category probably being just right. I would recommend it for any reader, young or old, who wants a short, truthful look at life in 1847.

By the way, the hardcover binding is of top-notch quality, and the attached bookmarker ribbon makes reading this book a real pleasure.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Irish girl comes to America seeking a better life., August 4, 2000

By	Rebecca Herman (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Fourteen-year-old Mary Driscoll and her family have lived in terrible poverty in the Irish countryside every since the potato famine began several years ago. When Mary is offered a chance to join her aunt and older sister in America, the land of opportunity, she jumps at the chance to seek a better life for herself. But after a long, stormy, and miserable ocean voyage, Mary arrives in America to find that it is nothing like she expected. She takes a job in a textile mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, where she is scorned by most of the American workers and expected to work long hours under terrible, unsafe conditions. There are few bright spots in this account of the life faced by many girls in New England cities during the mid-nineteenth century, and most of what happened to the fictional character of Mary happened to various girls who lived back then and worked in factories and mills. I would reccomend this to readers interested in this particular time period in history, or to those readers who are fans of the Dear America series.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book!, September 22, 2000

A Kid's Review

This book, So Far From Home, is really good. I love the way it is written. It's about a girl called Mary Driscoll who moves from Ireland to America because of the potatoe famine. She does not go with her parents. In America she meets really nice people and makes some friends. She works in the Mills and tries to raise money for her parents so they can join her in America. This book shows America through an immagrint's point of view and how the life of a mill worker is. Whenever I read this book I cry at the end because it is so hopeful and pretty sad. This book is just pure beautiful. That might sound corny, but it is. It has funny parts and can be sad.

You should NOT read this book if you are sensitive. This book is very sad and has some disturbing parts in it, like when people eat pig droppings. You should try this book because it ROCKS!