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Eva of the Farm #1
Eva of the Farm
Twelve-year-old Eva is trying to remain hopeful as banks threaten to foreclose on Acadia Orchard, the apple and pear farm in Washington state that’s been in Eva’s family for generations. Acadia Orchard is long on lovely but short on cash and luck—and things go from bad to worse as one of the fruit crops is ruined, Eva’s parents start bickering, and her baby brother gets very, very sick.
Ever resourceful, Eva turns to her imagination for help. Soon, the importance of poetry and art become clear, not only as valuable means of expression, but also for their ability to connect people in profound and unique ways (and maybe even earn a few dollars).
Told in verse from Eva’s perspective, this is a lush, moving portrait of a family in flux, and the transforming powers of imagination and hope.
Ever resourceful, Eva turns to her imagination for help. Soon, the importance of poetry and art become clear, not only as valuable means of expression, but also for their ability to connect people in profound and unique ways (and maybe even earn a few dollars).
Told in verse from Eva’s perspective, this is a lush, moving portrait of a family in flux, and the transforming powers of imagination and hope.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published July 10, 2012
1 person is currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Dia Calhoun
10 books41 followersAuthor, essayist, and poet Dia Calhoun won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature for her novel Aria of the Sea. Three of her eight novels are American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults. Calhoun’s contemporary novel Eva of the Farm was a Hornbook Magazine Best Verse Novel. Reviewing Calhoun’s most recent book, After the River the Sun School Library Journal wrote—“Lovers of gaming and Arthurian legends will thoroughly enjoy this one.” Calhoun’s 7:30 BELLS blog essays explore creativity and inspiration.
Calhoun is a cofounder of the literacy social media project, readergirlz, recipient of the National Book Foundation’s Innovations in Reading Prize. Calhoun has taught at Seattle University and the Cornish College of Arts. She currently offers private coaching in writing to kids and adults. Calhoun lives beside the wild Nisqually River in Washington state. Not only does the natural world inspire her writing, it’s also the basis for her new work as a sculptor.
Calhoun is a cofounder of the literacy social media project, readergirlz, recipient of the National Book Foundation’s Innovations in Reading Prize. Calhoun has taught at Seattle University and the Cornish College of Arts. She currently offers private coaching in writing to kids and adults. Calhoun lives beside the wild Nisqually River in Washington state. Not only does the natural world inspire her writing, it’s also the basis for her new work as a sculptor.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 5, 2012
I spent most of my childhood riding my bike in the suburbs around Seattle. There was a hill I could speed down, a blackberry maze I could pretend to get lost in, a witch’s house, and a speed bump that was perfect for popping wheelies. When I was eight, though, we had to move to a farm in Oregon, and, for many reasons, it was a watershed moment in my life. It wasn’t until years later, when we had to move again, that I could finally appreciate the beauty of the Oregon farm and the jagged, friendly little mountains I could see from my bedroom window.
Eva of the Farm is a sweet story about moves, changes, and losing a childhood home, but to some extent losing the farm is a broader symbol of losing childhood. While it was very sweet, it still confronted a lot of not-sweet injustices and bitterness. Eva is a thirteen-year-old poetess who lives on an orchard her family owns in Eastern Washington. Her beloved grandma recently died, and her best friend moved to Seattle. Eva’s family learns they might lose their farm to foreclosure because of a bad apple crop, and Eva has to deal with all of the loss she faces.
The story is told as a poem, and Eva’s poems punctuate what happens in her life. At first, I thought the poem format was slightly distracting from the story, but by the end I really liked it. It expressed a certain simplicity and deliberateness about the story that I thought was sweet and beautiful. I think a larger theme of the story is Eva’s transformation from seeing life as black and white, evil and good, to seeing her own influence in the world and power over it, as well as the complexity of people’s reactions to life and how that affects our own complex reactions.
I would say the message of this story is that change is bad, but we can be stronger than change. I can get behind that. Though I have now moved many times, no matter how many times it happens, no matter how many times I lose a friend or face death of someone I love, it always seems bad and like it displaces my soul for a little while. The way Eva gathers the greater powers around her seems like good, comforting advice.
__________________________
I received a copy of this from the publisher, but I gave nothing in return.
Eva of the Farm is a sweet story about moves, changes, and losing a childhood home, but to some extent losing the farm is a broader symbol of losing childhood. While it was very sweet, it still confronted a lot of not-sweet injustices and bitterness. Eva is a thirteen-year-old poetess who lives on an orchard her family owns in Eastern Washington. Her beloved grandma recently died, and her best friend moved to Seattle. Eva’s family learns they might lose their farm to foreclosure because of a bad apple crop, and Eva has to deal with all of the loss she faces.
The story is told as a poem, and Eva’s poems punctuate what happens in her life. At first, I thought the poem format was slightly distracting from the story, but by the end I really liked it. It expressed a certain simplicity and deliberateness about the story that I thought was sweet and beautiful. I think a larger theme of the story is Eva’s transformation from seeing life as black and white, evil and good, to seeing her own influence in the world and power over it, as well as the complexity of people’s reactions to life and how that affects our own complex reactions.
I would say the message of this story is that change is bad, but we can be stronger than change. I can get behind that. Though I have now moved many times, no matter how many times it happens, no matter how many times I lose a friend or face death of someone I love, it always seems bad and like it displaces my soul for a little while. The way Eva gathers the greater powers around her seems like good, comforting advice.
__________________________
I received a copy of this from the publisher, but I gave nothing in return.
March 6, 2020
A theme for this book could be "Don't give up"
December 1, 2012
This one grew on me slowly. I never loved every part of it, but there were aspects that I loved. The setting is nicely realized, and eventually I came to appreciate the way the poems work into the main story. There several poems I couldn't buy for a moment as being written by a 12-year-old. The friendship between Eva and the Bead Woman is a little messy and strange; not necessarily a bad thing, but as an adult I found the Bead Woman kind of sad, overly dependent on a child, and I don't think that was intended.
The parts where Eva gets the publicity and the letters, I could have done without that; it didn't seem real. But the initial scene in the farmer's market... that was probably my favorite.
The parts where Eva gets the publicity and the letters, I could have done without that; it didn't seem real. But the initial scene in the farmer's market... that was probably my favorite.
October 23, 2012
Book in verse about a 10 year old who loves the farm she's raised on, but tough economic times, the death of her grandmother and illness of her brother conspire to take the farm away. That sounds a little bleaker than it is - it's filled with hope and courage and imagination - but it was definitely rather dark.
Also, does anyone else find themselves skimming over text in italics? Two books in a row employed that technique, either for fantasies or poems, and I can barely ever make myself concentrate enough to get through those bits.
Also, does anyone else find themselves skimming over text in italics? Two books in a row employed that technique, either for fantasies or poems, and I can barely ever make myself concentrate enough to get through those bits.
September 24, 2012
Recommended for gr. 5-10. This is a heartwarming novel written in verse, as told by Eva, a young poet. Eva loves her life on the farm and often writes poems about things she sees and thinks. Her idyllic life changes when her family receives a piece of mail marked FORECLOSURE. In an effort to help the family, she decides to sell some of her poems, and meets an unlikely friend at the farmers market. The story is about hope, imagination and conquering fears.
June 18, 2012
I think Eva will touch many hearts.
September 17, 2025
This book explores grief and hardship in a way that is clear and emotionally stimulating for younger kids. I really enjoyed this one, especially how Eva's complex emotions, specifically negative emotions, were validated throughout the story. I think this would be great to help kids learn emotional regulation and understanding of their feelings. The verse structure was effective in communicating the plot, characters, and setting of the novel while also providing a stylistic choice that may interest students more than a novel in prose. The style was interwoven with the plot and did not feel random or unnecessary, especially considering all the allusions to Greek mythology and other forms of epic poetry in Eva's life.
September 8, 2013
Twelve-year-old Eva loves life on the farm in eastern Washington and can't imagine living anywhere else. She is a gifted poet but is too shy to share her writing with the world (a la Emily Dickinson). When the bank threatens to foreclose, she decides she to share her work if it will help save the farm. There is no happy ever after, but Eva's tale is realistic and filled with hope.
If I could have given three and a half stars, I would have, but it's better than a mere three. I liked the poems in this book very much, but they don't read like a 12-year-old wrote them... not even a gifted 12-year-old. That's the rub. When a book is written from a child's point of view, the voice must ring true. The narrative free verse is plausible, but the lyrical poetry has "talented adult" written all over it. Anyone who has ever lived on and loved a family farm will understand and identify with the themes and emotions running through Calhoun's story and her lyrical poetry.
If I could have given three and a half stars, I would have, but it's better than a mere three. I liked the poems in this book very much, but they don't read like a 12-year-old wrote them... not even a gifted 12-year-old. That's the rub. When a book is written from a child's point of view, the voice must ring true. The narrative free verse is plausible, but the lyrical poetry has "talented adult" written all over it. Anyone who has ever lived on and loved a family farm will understand and identify with the themes and emotions running through Calhoun's story and her lyrical poetry.
June 13, 2013
Told in free verse, this poetic novel concerns Eva, a 12-year-old girl who lives on an apple/pear farm in eastern Washington. Financial setbacks mean the family may lose the farm, which has been in Eva's mother's family for generations. Eva is a little too uninformed for her age, with such little knowledge of things like Facebook or Twitter, or pop culture in general, you would think she lived "off the grid," but that is not the case. Also, Eva's poems, which are set off in italics in the text, are a little too melodramatic. On the plus side, the adult characters seem very well-rounded and realistic. Still, many tweens will relate to Eva's overly emotional personality and the timely story.
April 29, 2016
I love the writing style of this book which made it easy read and fast page turner. The author used very descriptive, elegant words through out this book and I love how the poems that the character makes were shown for the reader to look at. I felt deep emotions like anger and sadness from loss and decisions that other characters made in the book. The main character explored many of these emotions throughout the story from what may have been the end of her farm, friendship, and family. I'd recommend this to any reader who wants a fast read and story that deals with problems that have to get overcome.
October 26, 2012
Wonderful novel in free verse (aimed at 9-12 y.o. girls), about a young girl whose family may lose the family's orchard in eastern WA state. Poetry, foreclosure, nature, sibling relationships, friends who move away and change....this book has it all.
August 31, 2014
Story in verse, set in contemporary Washington state, about a family in both emotional and financial crisis. The plot keeps you reading, but the language and imagery stay with you long after you've finished.
July 27, 2013
A moving story about a young girl who is determined to save her family's farm. The girl, Eva, is completely believable as a daughter, a sister, a poet. The verse drew me in and tugged on my heart strings.
May 5, 2014
I very much wanted to love this book. The poetry and the idea of the story of a family struggling to save their farm appealed to me so much. Alas, I never really connected to the main characters and the pace was very slow for me.
May 22, 2016
This book is very fast paced, as it written in verse. It was well written and enjoyable.
I also went to a young writers workshop with the author at my local bookstore and got my copy signed and she's really sweet. This story to boot is set in the Methow Valley which is where I'm from.
I also went to a young writers workshop with the author at my local bookstore and got my copy signed and she's really sweet. This story to boot is set in the Methow Valley which is where I'm from.
August 17, 2015
I normally find books in verse a struggle but this flowed so beautifully and the poems were wonderful and so visual.
April 5, 2013
What a jewel! This book dazzles and shines with imagination and hope. Read it!
June 10, 2013
Art and poetry save the day/farm.
Summer #bookaday 5
Summer #bookaday 5
August 5, 2016
An enjoyable story about a girl, a farm, and her family, and how poetry enriches her life.
May 26, 2013
Love this character. :)
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews