Clover (Hardcover)

~ Dori Sanders (Author) "They dressed me in white for my daddy's funeral..." (more)
Key Phrases: Sara Kate, Jim Ed, Miss Katie (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Clover Hill, a shrewd 10-year-old South Carolina orphan, is raised by her stepmother, a white woman frowned upon by Clover's black kinfolk. "Infusing her first novel with black vernacular as convincing as Alice Walker's, imaginative metaphors that rival Maya Angelou's and humor as delicious as Zora Neale Hurston's, Sanders has created a refreshing new voice," said PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal

Clover, a black 10-year-old who is wise beyond her years, is devastated when her beloved father is killed in an automobile accident shortly after marrying Sara Kate, a white woman. With clear, simple vision, unencumbered by adult emotions and experiences, Clover learns to deal with death, dying, and racial relationships. Readers will appreciate the keen humor and the picture of Southern life related by a child through the customs, cooking, and culture. They will also get a sense of race relations in the 1980s. Those who enjoyed Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper, 1961) and Will Tweedy in Cold Sassy Tree (Ticknor & Fields, 1984) will love Clover. In addition, the requirement that students read an American novel by a modern writer can be satisfied by this beautifully executed book. --Carol Clark, R. E. Lee High School, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 183 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books; 1st edition (January 3, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0945575262
• ISBN-13: 978-0945575269
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #978,570 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Becoming a family, August 7, 2000

By	Krista (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clover (Paperback)

Hours after his wedding to Sara Kate, Gaten dies in a car accident, leaving behind his widow and his ten year old daughter, Clover.

Clover, gifted but strong-willed, is not quite ready to embrace the new stepmother she hardly knows. They have differences in race -- Sara Kate is white, while Clover is black -- and in background -- Sara Kate is a highly educated, cultured city girl, while Clover has lived all her life in rural Round Hill, South Carolina. Clover's beloved Aunt Everleen is also none too fond of the newcomer she views as an intruder in their close knit family. Over time, though, the characters learn to adapt to each other. The transition from strangers to family is subtly told, and remarkably moving.

Sanfers, who grew up in a rural South Carolina town much like Round Hill, and still manages her family's fruit stand there, tells Clover's story in a series of non-linear vignettes. This technique results in some confusion: a character that was dead two pages ago will suddenly resurface, alive. I can foresee that this jumping around would especially confuse younger readers, the target audience of this book.

I also have my doubts about the voice of Clover. She is perhaps the most mature, self aware ten year old I have ever encountered in literature or in life. Despite these flaws, though, this book is a strong story, beautifully written.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A unique coming of age story., July 5, 1998

By	Corris Williams ([e-mail]) (Charlotte, North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clover (Paperback)

Drawing from childhood experiences of growing up in Filbert (York County), Sanders wove a unique coming-of-age story. As Sander's story begins, 10 year-old Clover, a strong willed Southern African American girl, is facing a crisis. Her widower father, Gaten, is about to re-marry, this time to his college sweetheart, a white woman named Sara Kate.

Clover isn't the only one upset, her aunt Everleen isn't too thrilled about the union either. But, Clover and her family face and even bigger crisis several hours after the wedding when word comes that Gaten and Sara Kate have been in a car crash. Everleen is convinced that Gaten's new wife will divide both the family and its land.

This book is not wholly about race. It's about the whole family. Not only does Clover have to adjust to the sudden changes in her life, but so do the other members of her family. I liked it because it's a story you can read with your children. It is a heart warming story and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Honest and plain speaking, October 17, 1999

By	terry liebowitz (Castro Valley, California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clover (Paperback)

Ten year old Clover narrates her struggle to accept the loss of her grandfather and father and the acquistition of a white stepmother she barely knows. It is refreshing to read a novel so simply written, nothing overblown here. Southern customs and racial stereotypes color the story helping us to learn with Clover about the support and love that can found within our families.