Skip to main content

The Warden's Daughter

Image
By

The Warden's Daughter
By Jerry Spinelli
Random House, 2017. Fiction.

Cammie O'Reilly's life has always been a little bit different. Most kids have backyards, she has the Women's Yard. Most kids have treehouses, she has The Tower. Most kids have mothers, she doesn't - yet. Her own mother was killed in an accident saving her life when she was just a baby, leaving her alone with her father, the prison warden. The summer Cammie turns thirteen, she decides to find herself a new mother to do all the motherly things she misses out on, and she picks Eloda Pupko - the prison trustee who acts as her housekeeper. As the summer goes by, Eloda resists the role of mother that Cammie tries to thrust on her, as Cammie's anger at her different life bubbles deeper and deeper.

The Warden's Daughter is a great historical fiction novel filled with really interesting (if not always likable) characters. Set in the same same fictional town as Manaic Magee, this book shows Jerry Spinelli at his best - which is very good. At times, Cammie can be a real pain and many readers will have trouble identifying with her actions, but this makes her character development more satisfying. This book is filled with very real emotion and tangible frustration in the midst of stretches of truly beautiful language. This book will likely strike a chord with more advanced middle graders.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Display: Dino-mite Reads

By
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs By Mo Willems New York: Balzar + Bray, 2012. Picture Book. "Once upon a time, there were three hungry Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur . . . and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway. One day--for no particular reason--they decided to tidy up their house, make the beds, and prepare pudding of varying temperatures. And then--for no particular reason--they decided to go . . . someplace else. They were definitely not setting a trap for some succulent, unsupervised little girl. Definitely not!" --Editor Smart Vs. Strong! Written by Jill Esbaum Illustrated by Miles Thompson New York: Simon Spotlight, 2021. Easy Reader. 64 pages. "When Thunder gets stuck in quicksand, Cluck uses his smarts to free his friend." --Editor How Dinosaurs Went Extinct Written by Ame Dyckman Illustrated by Jennifer Harney New York: Brown and Company, 2023. Picture Book. "When a child in a museum asks how dinosaurs became extinct, Dad co
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Enigma Girls

By
  The Enigma Girls By Candace Fleming New York: Scholastic Focus, 2024. Informational. 371 pages. If you have an interest in little known aspects of history or in World War II in particular, this book is for you. The Enigma Girls tells the story of 10 young women who worked at Station X at Bletchley Park in England helping to break ciphers during World War II. Each of the girls grew up in different circumstances, and thus, each worked at in a different part of Station X cracking codes. The reader learns about how Station X worked through the stories of each of the girls. Whether it was transcribing the Morse code messages that the Germans were sending to their armies or decoding, translating, or paraphrasing messages, each girl had a part to play. The stories of the girls are intermixed with plenty of photographs as well as special chapters about how to decode various types of ciphers. Learning about Station X through the eyes of the girls that worked there helps the reader gain a huma
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Hidden Dragon

By
The Hidden Dragon By Melissa Marr New York: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2023. Fiction. 161 pages. Three children, Otter, London, and Sophia, live in a fantasy world with dragons. Otter (short for Ottilie) is the daughter of a ship captain, and she loves the sea and its dragons. London is a stowaway boy, searching for a new life full of adventure. Sophia lives in a thief house with other children, all dedicated to helping each other and trying to make the kingdom better. As trouble begins to brew both on land and at sea, these three heroes realize that maybe it's up to the kids to make things right. Readers experience the book from multiple perspectives, and with a bit of mystery and adventure, this is an amazing fantasy read. With the inspiring message that children truly can make a difference, readers will enjoy how each character fights for what's right, even when it's inconvenient. The ending is resolved a little quickly, but this is a great read for all "hatchlings."
Post a Comment
Read more