Nory Ryan's Song

Nory Ryan #1

by Patricia Reilly Giff

Nory Ryan's family has lived on Maidin Bay on the west coast of Ireland for generations, raising a pig and a few chickens, planting potatoes, getting by. Every year Nory's father goes away on a fishing boat and returns with the rent money for the English lord who owns their cottage and fields, the English lord bent upon forcing the Irish from their land so he can tumble the cottages and clear the fields for grazing. Times are never easy on Maidin Bay, but this year, a terrible blight attacks the potatoes. No crop means starvation. Twelve-year-old Nory must summon the courage and ingenuity to find food, to find hope, to find a way to help her family survive.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Ireland, Young Adult, Historical, Fiction, Childrens

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 2000

About the author

Patricia Reilly Giff was an American author and educator whose warm, emotionally resonant books made her a beloved figure in children's literature. After spending roughly two decades as a teacher, she turned to writing and brought a deep understanding of young readers to stories that balanced humor, resilience, and emotional truth. Educated at Marymount Manhattan College, St. John's University, and Hofstra University, she drew on both her classroom experience and literary instincts to create memorable fiction for children and middle-grade readers. She became especially well known for the popular Polk Street School series, which captured the everyday dramas of school life with charm and empathy. Beyond those books, she wrote acclaimed novels such as Lily's Crossing, Nory Ryan's Song, Pictures of Hollis Woods, Eleven, and Genevieve's War, often exploring themes of belonging, family, hardship, and courage. Her work earned wide recognition, including Newbery Honors, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults designation, and a Christopher Award. Giff also influenced younger writers through her workshops and teaching spirit. Throughout her career, she remained a compassionate literary voice whose stories spoke directly to children's fears, hopes, and imaginations.

Reviews

[Dea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Searing, unflinching, heartbreaking… palatable and age-appropriate for its YA demographic but also gripping and powerful enough for adult readers. This one will stay with me.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read this hoping to find out more about the potato famine, which when you read the fact that twice the amount of food needed by the starving people was shipped out, stolen by the English would be more accurately called a genocide than a famine, I think that calling it a famine is offensive. We certainly learnt lots about the awful life the Irish people endured, as if living on potatoes wasn't bad enough, with the potatoes lost by blight it was limpets and seaweed if you were lucky. This book certainly gets across the level of suffering although as my daughter pointed out given the number of people who died there is only one death in the characters we meet and that was an elderly Grandmother. This obviously makes for bleak reading, I think we would have appreciated this book more if the second book was part of this one. At the end we see the family hope to escape on a ship to New York This was the relief I was waiting for so it would have been great to be able to know this happened. This book did a good job of portraying this shocking period of history, we enjoyed the glossary of Irish words and hearing some of their customs and folklore, some of which we recognised. Personally after reading so much suffering I wanted something to go right for this family, we will keep our fingers crossed for them.

[Wilma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prachtig, aangrijpend verhaal over Nory Ryan. Zij weet het gezin op het Ierse platteland in leven te houden tijdens de vreselijke jaren 1845-1851, de jaren van An Gorta Mor, De Grote Hongersnood.
Ik heb het verhaal in één ruk uitgelezen!!

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read aloud 12/13 year contender.

Searing. A little too much for the younger kids in my audience, but should be read by anyone over, let's randomly say 10 or 11? Especially kids who turn up noses at good food placed consistently before them?!!

Beautifully, gorgeously written. The passage of time was a little obscure, but I wonder if that's what it would be like if one was truly starving? A little fuzzy around the edges?

Nory is a beautiful character. Actually, they all were. Giff did a great job of creating people. The English landlord and his agent were despicable. It's hard to believe there are such people, and yet, there are.

Real famine is something I'm so very thankful I can't really understand. We truly have and can have no conception of what it's like to even be really, abysmally hungry. I was so surprised in this book at how quickly the people began to starve when the potatoes failed. Perhaps it was the fuzzy passage of time problem I mentioned above, but I wondered what they had been eating during the months before the potato crop was to be harvested?

All in all, a gem of a book. A great look into another culture in a time of great hardship.

[L11_Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this historical fiction book. The premise was interesting enough - Ireland's Potato Famine of 1845-1852 and the indifference of England during that period. I also enjoyed reading that the author, Patricia Reilly Giff, has 6 great grandparents who lived through the famine. However, the story dragged on too long. 12 year old protagonist Nory is responsible for her family (Grandfather, 3 year old brother and 14 year old sister) when her oldest sister leaves for America with her new husband. As the potatoes rot in the fields and the English landowners continue raising the rent, Nory is desperate. She dreams of her and her family joining her sister in New York and it is her perseverance, courage and a bit of luck that makes that FINALLY happen. I wish to know the outcome of Nory's journey to America instead of the entire story taking place in Ireland. I felt let down that after spending so much time starving with Nory that I don't know how she ended up.

Intended for upper elementary/early midddle school students, it is a good source of information about Ireland's plight. The author writes a letter to the reader after the story detailing her inspiration for writing it which is good background - might be better to read this first before the book. Another one of her books, Lily's Crossing, is a Newbery Honor and has been recommended, so I'll try that one.

[Vicky Sang · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I was reading for the realistic non fiction was Nory Ryan's Song. This book connects to A Long Walk To Water in many differnet ways. In Nory Ryan's song, it mostly talked about how little water their land had. It talked about lost families, about the protagonist, Nory, who had to leave her sister. She loved her family and friends, but some of them where forced to leave because of the war. It was a sad, tragic story. Nory and the rest of her family didn't have enough food and water, they didn't have enough shelter, most of the time, they usually go to the wealthiest lady in the land for money, to buy materials for survival. This connects to ALWTW, because in ALWTW, Salva didn't get enough food and water because of the war, he lost his family in the middle, and it was terrifying. Salve kept on walking, finding somewhere safe, trying to keep up with the good work

[Amalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stayed up all night crying with this one. Giff is an award winning author who gives us a strong, complex heroine to love and cheer. Nory is a 12 year old girl living in Ireland at the time of the potato famine. Like most 12 year olds, she is a mix of innocence and maturity; she is full of the optimism and idealism of her youth.

As the story unfolds,we watch as Nory must face the often harsh reality of her situation. We see her courage, and her spirit, her compassion and her determination shine through the bleak Irish landscape like a beacon of hope for all those around her.

We grow with Nory, we hope with her and we cry with her. Thank you, Patricia Reilly Giff, for giving our girls such a strong and wonderful example from whom to learn

[Karen Hogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seriously, have you ever been truly hungry? I thought I was hungry, the one day I had to fast before surgery. Reading This YA book will make you see the potato famine in Ireland, through the eyes of young Nory Ryan. You will realize how cozy we live, compared to our Irish ancestors, many who starved to death. This book is for the young reader in all of us... It will make you realize how we take a full stomach for granted...

[Anna K Baskaran]

I read this because Eliza loves it. And goodness knows she’s read plenty of books I love.
I’ll be honest - most of the book, it was almost too sad for me to keep going. But by the end I was won over, and now I want to finish the series.

[Conan Tigard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being an American Irishman, I knew little to nothing about the Irish Potato Famine that started in 1845. But after reading Nory Ryan's Song, I feel I know quite a great deal about the subject now. In the story, Lord Cunningham is a brutal Lord who cares absolutely about the people under his care. The poor Irish farmers can barely scrape by with a meager existence living off of the land.

Nory Ryan is a wonderful character who does anything to survive starvation. Patricia Reilly Giff does a brilliant job of portraying the heinous conditions of the time, without getting overly descriptive or unpleasant. Nory Ryan's Song is very tastefully written and I would suggest that this book would be good reading for any junior high school history class. In fact, I am going to give this book to the History teacher in my school so she can read it aloud to the class. Often times, historical fiction books can be quite dry, but this is not the case with Nory Ryan's Song.

Overall, this is an excellent book to read, no matter what age you are. I sincerely look forward to reading the next book, Maggie's Door.

I rated this book an 8½ out of 10.

[Linda Lipko · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Ireland, 1845, life is brutal for those lacking in resources. The potato famine occurred, destroying a crop that sustained the poor. This is a small, but mighty book, and analogous to the character, it becomes a wonderful YA book that teaches the plight of the poor in Ireland and their desire to find a way out of their country to the land of plenty. Families dreamed of affording the price of tickets to come to America, and Nory Ryan's family is no exception.
The main character is young and responsible for finding food for her family while her father is away fishing in the hope of catching excess in order to not only feed the family, but find safety in a new country.

[Tiffany Smart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to give this book zero stars because it literally made me cry from the first chapter to the last. How is life so hard and cruel!? 💔 Bless these resilient people! In the authors note someone told her, “Had this not happened, you’d be an Irishman, not a New Yorker.” So much to think about.


Pacing: fast and heart breaking
Format: physical copy
Recommendation Source: Got a copy from a book exchange with my friends.
Rating: PG, probably 12+, it’s got some heavy topics

[Carmijn Gerritsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has earned its place in the canon, and gives an overview of the conditions during the great Irish famine. It was quite educational and is grounded in the sociohistorical context. However, I was slightly underwhelmed by the scope. The story is set in a single town, which makes it less adventurous than related works.

[Sarah Hughes-Plata · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nory Ryan’s Song is a historical fiction book set in Ireland in the early 1800s. Nory and her family live in a one room mud hut with a dirt floor, her entire family is crammed into this tiny hut. Nory and her family are poor and rarely have enough to eat, one foggy day Nory is given a coin. She is so tremendously excited about this little coin. She then happily gallops up to St. Patrick’s well, when she looks over the edge the coin slips from her hand and tumbled all the way down to the bottom of the old well. Nory is devastated. Shortly after her sister leaves, the land lord catches her in the forbidden creek and there is no sign of her dad.

I abandoned this book because of a few reasons. First of all it’s depressing, her whole life is sad and her family is leaving and she’s losing money and so forth. Second of all it’s hard to read, the author slides in a lot of irishish (Irish speak). The irishish is hard to understand even after a key is giving. The final reason I left this book is because it wasn’t exciting, there was no suspense, no risks, non of that.

[Jerry Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immigration is in the news here in America. We often hear is said that we are a country of immigrants. I believe today's children will benefit from opportunities to read and connect with stories of families and young people who immigrated to America.
Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Reilly Giff is the first of three books Giff wrote about Nory. It takes place in 1845. Nory's family has lived on the coast of Ireland for generations and do to several conditions is experiencing very, very hard times. This book focuses on what Irish immigrants were moving away from in the homeland. Nory's older sister has immigrated to America and Nora hopes to some day join her.
I recommend this book. It could be a wonderful family read aloud or a classroom read aloud followed by discussion. And certainly it would be a thought provoking and captivating silent read for a young person.
This story could lead to many further topics and possible areas of learning. The next two books in Giff's series are possible as are stories to follow up on of other Irish immigrants. This story is about people coming to America 170 years ago. There are stories of more recent and current immigrants that also are easy to locate. Stories of immigrants from many different countries. Ask your local librarian for suggestions for any special other interest you may want to follow that this story ignited.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has special meaning to me as I have several ancestors who immigrated from Ireland during the great potato famine in the mid 1800’s. Well written, easy read! I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

[Dotty · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Ireland in 1800’s the land is owned by a few wealthy landowners who exact their rent in potatoes. Would rather run the people off and have sheep grazing
Nory’s father is at sea trying to earn money to take the family away from Ireland. Nory’s sister, Maggie, has immigrated to New York. Nory and her siblings are living with their Granda. As they wait a terrible blight comes on the potatoes. Now they have no potatoes for rent and no potatoes for food. Then word comes there is a package at the post office

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. Nory's family lives in Ireland on a small farm. Her father goes away every year and returns with enough rent money for the year. However, one year, the potatoes they rely on for food aren't growing, and Nory has to try and find food and help her family survive the famine.
2. Grades 4-7
3. History, Literature Circle
4. Students who like historical fiction will enjoy this.
5/6. This could be a great book to use in a historical literature circle to compare historical fiction and actual accounts of historical events.
7. Water Street, Lily's Crossing, Maggie's Door
8. None

[Allie C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this book four stars because it is slow starting at first but in the middle of the book it gets really really good. It makes you not want you to put it down. Like when Nory was walking back from town with a package in her hand, and then some man was following her and then he pushed her to the ground and then took the package from her.To me that is very interesting.This book makes you feel like you are one of the main charaters.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read that tells about the Irish potato famine. Giff brings up a lot of good points about what was happening duirng that time in history. I would have liked to see this story fleshed out more, so the reader can connect with her characters. This story doesn't go deep enough, yet is interesting and informative.

[rivka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does a marvelous job of capturing the Irish potato famine from the eyes of a young woman. Like all of Giff's heroines, Nory Ryan has courage and inner strength.

While the ending was fairly satisfactory, I would have liked another chapter or two continuing the story.

[Patti Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book haunted my dreams - how did my ancestors survive this horrible time in history? I would love to know their personal stories.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast read and fascinating. It made me want to know more about the Irish Potato Famine.

[Kimberly Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very moving story, I think continuing the series could be helpful to kids. For those wanting a deeper understanding, the non-fiction book Black Potatoes is an excellent companion.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! So we listened to the audio for this one while following along in the book we own. I cannot recommend the audio highly enough, the accent alone and knowing how to pronounce the Irish words. I can just hear the feeling when she calls something "fuafar" :) Such a beautiful story, Nory is so strong. I love what Anna says to her that any family is blessed to have her in it. I did not know much, if any, about the Irish hunger and I'm grateful for our history curriculum and this as a recommended read aloud so I could read a story from a child's perspective of that time. Such an incredible tragedy and yet this story wasn't dark or depressing. Yes I cried, fair warning, but it was a beautiful cry full of love and pain for each passing stage of this event in Nory's life. A beautiful story about incorrect assumptions about people, about strength growing in the most difficult circumstances, of family love, of neighbor helping neighbor, of endurance, and of starting over. Wonderfully done.

[Jody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book will make you hungry. Hungry for food. Hungry for justice. Hungry for hope. It may make you cry, to realise what millions of people suffered during the great potato famine, which was exacerbated by the English (not a shining moment in their history).

There are love and grit in this story. There are glimpses of the stubborn, independent, and superstitious spirit of the Irish people. It is a quick read, but the story will stay with you for a long time...

I was drawn in by Nory and Anna right from the beginning, the pair reminding me of Kit and Hannah from The Witch of Blackbird Pond (one of my favourite books of all time). I wasn't disappointed by the comparison, even if the story went another way entirely.

The audiobook reader had a lovely Irish accent, which made the story that much better to listen to.

[Karima · Rating 5 out of 5]

I happened upon this book in a Free Little Library, one of many that dot the streets of Seattle.
This is the kind of read that my ten-year-old self would have devoured. My almost 70 year-old-self did as well. Read in one sitting, it tells the story of 12-year-old Nory, living in Ireland during the potato famine of the mid-1800s.
I loved Nory. She is a strong, kind, resourceful young woman, the kind we want to uphold to our girls and ourselves. I feel we need more characters of exemplary lives.
The book stand on its own but continues in MAGGIE'S DOOR and WATER STREET.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this story based on the author's ancestors' experiences during the potato famine in Ireland. I read this with my 8 y.o. daughter; highly recommended. Teaches about enduring hard challenges, faith, and being grateful for what you have. Have also read the following two story's, "Maggie's Door" and "Water Street".

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as a read-aloud to my younger kids (8 and 11). They both liked it despite how sad of a book it was. They were amazed that the potato famine was a real thing that actually happened. Great read for discussion of what happened then and how some of our ancestors came to America because of those events.

[Madelaine Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nory Ryan’s Song is a novel that focuses on the Irish Potato Famine. During this read the family has to face struggles and difficulties during this time. The author compassionately expresses all the feelings and hardships during the Irish Potato Famine. This read is to inform young readers about the Potato Famine and how it impacted its people. Nory Ryan’s Song is extremely touching but also a great read for young students. This novel is a Newbery Honor winning author book. Nory Ryan’s Song has no illustrations but the story brings it to life. The conflict throughout the story focuses on how the family tries to survive the devastating effects of the Potato Famine. This read would be very helpful in the classroom to introduce the Irish Potato Famine and its hardships to young students to inform them about its effects.