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Butterflies and Lizards, Beryl and Me
In 1934, eleven-year-old Charlotte and her mother move to tiny Valley Junction, Missouri, where Charlotte befriends an eccentric old woman named Beryl Stubbs in spite of her mother's and others' warnings.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 1, 2009
I feel bad for this book with such an unfortunate cover and unfortunate title. I took it home because it has showed up on our 'dusty' book report for three years in a row (meaning no one has checked it out in 3 years), but for some reason I keep giving it a stay of execution. This year I took it home.
At first I thought, this is sort of a Winn-Dixie without the dog- an inter-generational friendship between a 'crazy' lady and an 11 year old girl from a down on their luck family, but that is where the resemblance stops. The setting is small town Missouri during the Depression. Charlotte (Charley) has come from the inner city with her mother who got a job in a vegetable cannery after her dad split. Charley is angry with her Dad for leaving and angry with her mom for, to her mind, driving him away. It is in her friendship with 'crazy' Beryl that she finds peace with herself and an acceptance of the people around her. The characters were alive enough that their failings and struggles to forgive and love and be loved actually made me cry.
Maybe fans of books in the grain of Creech's 'Walk Two Moons' would go for it, but this one will probably continue to languish unread on the shelf.
At first I thought, this is sort of a Winn-Dixie without the dog- an inter-generational friendship between a 'crazy' lady and an 11 year old girl from a down on their luck family, but that is where the resemblance stops. The setting is small town Missouri during the Depression. Charlotte (Charley) has come from the inner city with her mother who got a job in a vegetable cannery after her dad split. Charley is angry with her Dad for leaving and angry with her mom for, to her mind, driving him away. It is in her friendship with 'crazy' Beryl that she finds peace with herself and an acceptance of the people around her. The characters were alive enough that their failings and struggles to forgive and love and be loved actually made me cry.
Maybe fans of books in the grain of Creech's 'Walk Two Moons' would go for it, but this one will probably continue to languish unread on the shelf.
June 28, 2011
Good children's lit book. Mother/daughter relationships can be tricky.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews