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Don't Call Me Marda
Marsha feels apprehensive about her parents' plans to adopt a retarded child
138 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
1 person is currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Sheila Kelly Welch
20 books37 followersSheila Kelly Welch writes and illustrates for children of all ages. Her story, “The Holding-On Night,” published in Cricket, won the International Reading Association’s Short Story Award. Her most popular books are Little Prince Know-It-All and A Horse for All Seasons. Her middle-grade novel, The Shadowed Unicorn, was short-listed for the Prairie Pasque Award and was likened to Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia in a Booklist review. Her most recent novel, Waiting to Forget, was on Bank Street College and PA School Library Association Best Books lists. She also has two picture books published by the digital company, MeeGenius.
Sheila and her husband live in Illinois where they raised five sons and two daughters. Four of the children were adopted when they were of school age. Although she has two degrees from Temple University, she has learned more from her children than from any college course.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 4, 2009
I read what looks like a 1990 edition in paperback, but it has the same cover as the hardcover edition in the Goodreads database.
The illustrations by the author that begin each chapter are really lovely.
This story is told in the first person, and includes some diary entries. The diary entries are written in script. The narrator is a girl who’s 11 ½ years old.
I really enjoyed this story about this girl and her parents, who are considering adopting an eight year old developmentally delayed girl. Much of the story takes place during the six month long home trial period.
I think that 8-11 year old girls would especially enjoy this story, keeping in mind that at this point it would have to be considered a period piece. The people and plot are modern enough, and film cameras certainly still exist, but the word retarded is used quite a bit, even though the term developmentally delayed is used as well.
This would be a great story for horse crazy girls. I was not one of those, but I would have enjoyed this story as a girl at least as much as I enjoyed it as an adult.
I love how the main character loves her pony and is determined to keep him, despite the fact that she’s too big to ride him regularly and even though she also wants a new horse that she can ride.
I love how the main character’s emotions seem so genuine and natural. They include anger, jealousy, embarrassment, anxiety, regret, ambivalence about growing up, as well as love and pride.
I love how the author weaves the names of other children’s books into the story and how this girl and her best friend are obviously readers.
The author knows of what she writes. In the back of the book, in the author bio, it says she lives in the country, has horses, dogs, and cats, and that six of her seven children are adopted.
Even though this book is nearly twenty years old I’m sad to see that I’m the first to rate/review it on Goodreads. This is a worthwhile book and deservers to be read. I see the author also has some horse stories for children, which makes sense given the place horses have in this book.
The illustrations by the author that begin each chapter are really lovely.
This story is told in the first person, and includes some diary entries. The diary entries are written in script. The narrator is a girl who’s 11 ½ years old.
I really enjoyed this story about this girl and her parents, who are considering adopting an eight year old developmentally delayed girl. Much of the story takes place during the six month long home trial period.
I think that 8-11 year old girls would especially enjoy this story, keeping in mind that at this point it would have to be considered a period piece. The people and plot are modern enough, and film cameras certainly still exist, but the word retarded is used quite a bit, even though the term developmentally delayed is used as well.
This would be a great story for horse crazy girls. I was not one of those, but I would have enjoyed this story as a girl at least as much as I enjoyed it as an adult.
I love how the main character loves her pony and is determined to keep him, despite the fact that she’s too big to ride him regularly and even though she also wants a new horse that she can ride.
I love how the main character’s emotions seem so genuine and natural. They include anger, jealousy, embarrassment, anxiety, regret, ambivalence about growing up, as well as love and pride.
I love how the author weaves the names of other children’s books into the story and how this girl and her best friend are obviously readers.
The author knows of what she writes. In the back of the book, in the author bio, it says she lives in the country, has horses, dogs, and cats, and that six of her seven children are adopted.
Even though this book is nearly twenty years old I’m sad to see that I’m the first to rate/review it on Goodreads. This is a worthwhile book and deservers to be read. I see the author also has some horse stories for children, which makes sense given the place horses have in this book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews