Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: Sarah Miller, Miss Annie, Captain Keller (more...)

Editorial Reviews

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*Starred Review* Miller's accomplished debut imagines Annie Sullivan's first experiences with her famous pupil, Helen Keller, from the young teacher's train ride to Alabama, during which she anticipated teaching a charge who had "no words, only sensations," to the breakthrough at the water pump, where she taught Helen to use language. Miller based her story on Sullivan's letters, excerpts of which begin each chapter, and in Sullivan's voice, Miller muses about the monumental questions and challenges that she faced: "It's up to me to show Helen that communication between people exists at all." Many lengthy passages detailing the wild, messy intimacy and the violent physical altercations between Sullivan and young Helen may tire some readers, but they amplify the visceral sense of Sullivan's exhausting struggle. In language that often reads like poetry, Miller creates a strong portrait of Sullivan's accomplishments, as well as her character—volatile, ferociously intelligent, and yearning for love and belonging, just like Helen. "Words bridge the gaps between two minds. Words are a miracle," Sullivan says. Miller's words reach beyond the historical facts here, encouraging readers to think about the small miracles of connection they can accomplish with words every day. Photos, a chronology, and an extensive bibliography conclude this stirring, fictionalized account. Engberg, Gillian

Product Description

Annie Sullivan was little more than a half-blind orphan with a fiery tongue when she arrived at Ivy Green in 1887. Desperate for work, she'd taken on a seemingly impossible job -- teaching a child who was deaf, blind, and as ferocious as any wild animal. But Helen Keller needed more than a teacher. She needed someone daring enough to work a miracle. And if anyone was a match for Helen, it was the girl they used to call Miss Spitfire.

For Annie, reaching Helen's mind meant losing teeth as raging fists flew. It meant standing up when everyone else had given up. It meant shedding tears at the frustrations and at the triumphs. By telling this inspiring story from Annie Sullivan's point of view, Sarah Miller's debut novel brings an amazing figure to sharp new life. Annie's past, her brazen determination, and her connection to the girl who would call her Teacher have never been clearer.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum (July 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416925422
• ISBN-13: 978-1416925422
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #99,631 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taming Keller, August 30, 2007

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Authors that try to tackle any aspect of Helen Keller's life in a children's literary format are simultaneously blessed and cursed. On the one hand, talk about God's gift to authors. The emotional ups and downs of Helen's tale, the (dare I say) hope of her life, I mean she's a great historical character. Loads more interesting to a nine-year-old than your average everyday biographical figures. So there's that. On the other hand, none of this is a secret. As a result, my library's Helen Keller section of biographies is rivaled only by Martin Luther King Jr. So when I saw that someone had done a middle grade work of fiction regarding Helen and Annie Sullivan's early days, I hardly gave it a thought. Why read what we already know? I mean, if everyone knows a series of facts about someone, can there be any worthwhile reason to read yet ANOTHER story about her life and trials? The answer, as it happens, is yes. Debut author Sarah Miller shows us that even the most familiar story can become edge-of-your-seat gripping when the writing's cool and collected.

There's a reason this book is called "Miss Spitfire". Turns out, that was the nickname bestowed on Annie Sullivan when she attended the Perkins Institute for the Blind. Irish, alone in the world, half-blind, and with guts galore, Ms. Sullivan is terrified at the prospect of her very first job. She's being sent to work with one Helen Keller, a blind, deaf child. The hope is to work a "miracle" on her and teach her to bridge the gap between signing and the use of words. The task turns out to be more than she gambled for, however, when it appears that Helen has had the run of her household for years. Uncivilized, uncouth, and unrepentant, her wishy-washy parents have failed to discipline, thereby allowing Helen to always get what she wants. If Annie didn't see Helen coming, though, you can be darn certain that Helen didn't see Annie either. Now the battle between the two firebrands has begun and it's time to see whether or not the stubbornness of a child who has always had her way can compete with the stubbornness of a woman as tough and smart as Annie Sullivan.

The reason the Helen Keller story works is because Helen is hell on earth. She's not the angelic creature just waiting for a helping hand. No dewy-eyed, saintly personality-challenged naïf she. She's not Little Eva or Little Nell. No she was, to use my grandmother's phrase, a pistol. So for a book like this to work you need to really feel for Annie Sullivan. When Helen cracks her in the jaw with a hardheaded doll, you have to want to strangle the child with your own bare hands and not just Annie's. As an author, Miller's smart enough to know how to tease out the dramatic elements of this tale. Seeing Ms. Sullivan's background, you are all the more impressed at her restraint around Helen. Considering that the girl has enough crafty qualities to try the patience of a saint, and considering that Ms. Sullivan's own father was abusive, you would think such tendency towards violence might easily pass down from father to daughter. Instead, the opposite is true. She does not hit because she knows what it is like to be on the receiving end of a blow. I was very taken with the moral in this story that rules and order breed love. It is Annie's restraint and discipline that in the end manages to tease out that love.

Annie's loneliness and need almost becomes their own characters in this book. Right from the start we learn that "The loneliness in my heart is an old acquaintance." Yet Miller plays Annie as increasingly desperate for human affection. She constantly looks for love from Helen, even though the child has little to no interest in forming any kind of a relationship at first. And when a baby gives Annie a kiss (lunging at her, as the text says, "like a lecher"), the woman says that, "Warmth ripples down to my toes," and that she is "Woozy with pleasure." The writing here, as you can see, is good.

Technically I should probably have a copy of The Miracle Worker in front of me for reference. It would allow me to note whether or not the emotional beats in both the play and Helen's story are identical or not. Then again, maybe it's better this way. It's clear that "Miss Spitfire" is a story of Helen's teacher, not just Helen herself. I'm sure that if Miller had wanted to she could have written the book from Helen's point of view, but as far as I can tell that way lays only tears. Seeing Annie's past allows us to note how much she and her young pupil have in common. It's a clever motif. So clever, in fact, that I feel certain that the kids who read this story will have little difficulty getting inside of the mind of an adult. Sometimes there's a disconnect between the protagonist and the reader, particularly in children's novels, if the hero is fully grown. Here I have no qualms.

The book is meticulously referenced, much to my relief. There's an author's note, photographs of the characters and locations, books for further reading, a plethora of websites and videos to visit for further info, a timeline, and even a list of sources (print and online). Better still, Miller knows enough to point out the elements of her tale that jar with the narrative. At one point Annie sing-signs the words to the song "Bessie's Song to Her Doll", because they fit the situation so well. In her Author's Note, Miller is quick to point out that the poem was written some years later by Lewis Carroll and could not have been used as it is here. It just happens to fit the book well.

I did have some questions here and there. As I've said, you get the feeling that Miller was a stickler for historical accuracy. So much so that there is no cleaning up of the real Annie's references to the "little negro boy" who worked in the house. So it was interesting to me that at no point does Annie go about wearing dark glasses ala Anne Bancroft. I assume that this was a theatrical flourish in the stage production of Helen's story that didn't accurately occur at this point in time. I did wish for a mention of it somewhere in the book, though.

And I had some other confusions elsewhere. Miller's book never really clarifies how Annie got out of the almshouse and into the Perkins school for the blind. How was her way paid? We see a brief encounter between her and a man in charge of Perkins, but there's never a full explanation of how that led to her acceptance into the school. I had hoped that maybe the author's note in the back would offer some background, but the only mention of the incident is a cryptic sentence reading, "Annie enters Perkins Institutions for the Blind" without any attention paid to the "hows" behind the sentence.

For me, the book is summarized nicely in the real life quote taken from Anne Sullivan's letters to a Ms. Sophia Hopkins, appearing at the beginning of Chapter Six. "The greatest problem I shall have to solve is how to discipline and control her without breaking her spirit." In the solution we find the heart of the novel. I've read very little historical fiction this year that stayed with me. I like to think that Ms. Miller's book is one of the few worth keeping close at hand. A really enjoyable story.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kids opinion, August 1, 2007

By	Oreo (Florida) - See all my reviews

I'm an eleven year old boy. I really liked this book. I thought this story was very interesting. I liked the way it was written from Annie Sullivan's point of view.


As the mother of the reviewer, I was pleased when my son spontaneously relayed a fact that he had learned from the book while eating dinner one evening. He enjoyed reading the book and I am pleased that he learned something at the same time.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life Lessons and Determination, July 5, 2007

By	Little Willow (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Teachers strive to inspire their students to do their best, to expand their horizons, and to challenge themselves. Annie Sullivan's life was one challenge after another, and her first teaching charge was no exception. Helen Keller was blind, deaf, and completely wild when Annie first came into her life. Little did either of them know then that they would have a breakthrough within weeks of Annie's arrival, and that they would remain friends for the rest of Annie's life.

MISS SPITFIRE: Reaching Helen Keller by Sarah Miller covers approximately the first month of Annie's work with Helen. Each chapter notes the date and contains a line or two from an actual letter written by Annie at that time. Annie narrates the story in first person as she comes to know Helen and her family. She speaks up when Helen's parents treat their daughter too gently, all the while wishing her own parents had been there for her. Meeting Helen's older brothers brings up both fond and sad memories of her beloved brother Jimmy. Annie begins teaching Helen to spell by tracing letters in her palm and insisting that Helen spell out what she does and what she wants.

Sarah Miller's debut shows a great deal of compassion. You can tell that the author has done her research, and that she wanted to stay true to the real events in Annie's life. The relationship between Annie and Helen was rocky at the start, and though Miller handles it with care, she never idealizes it nor sensationalizes it. She isn't afraid to show Annie physically struggling with her wild student, who bruised her teacher with her tiny yet powerful fists.

The novel is fueled by truth, determination, and introspection. This is not only about teaching Helen how to spell "doll" or "water," but about reaching her. Annie wanted Helen to really know what she was spelling - to honestly communicate - to fully understand.

Recommended for ages 8 and up - for all ages, really.