That Scatterbrain Booky

Booky #1

by Bernice Thurman Hunter

Scatterbrained, incorrigible and irrepressible ― Booky will win you over in this Canadian classic set in Depression-era Toronto. It's almost 1933 and the Great Depression has hit the east end of Toronto. Booky's father can't find work; her mother is expecting another baby; the bailiff keeps threatening to evict the family from their home; and her older brother Arthur is terribly annoying. Yes, life is full of setbacks. But through the eyes of Booky Thomson the world has an energetic, rosy there are street games to play at night with the neighbourhood kids; butter and white sugar sandwiches; important talks with her Grandpa; riding the streetcar to her Aunt Susan's nut and candy shop; and an oh-so-special afternoon at the talking picture show. And soon, soon, she knows her parents will stop fighting, her hunger pangs will subside, and her family will laugh again. With nostalgic black-and-white photos from the era throughout, this treasure of a book offers an authentic, poignant glimpse into one family's struggle to stay together when the world around them was falling apart.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Canada, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Young Adult, Classics

181 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1981

About the author

She was born in Toronto, Ontario, on November 3, 1922 and died May 29, 2002. She married her high school sweetheart, Lloyd Hunter, and had two children, Anita and Heather, and four grandchildren, Meredith, Lisa, Hunter and Franceline. No Greats.

Bernice was the middle child of 5 children (Wilma, Gordon, Bernice, Jack and Robert). She struggled in school because they moved so often. The Booky Trilogy, set during the Great Depression, depicts her family being forced to stay ahead of the bailiff, who threw them out when her unemployed father couldn't afford the rent. (Despite the hardships of poverty, it was her nature to be happy, so the books are upbeat.) They lived in Birchcliff and Swansea. The "new house" was on Cornell Avenue and she went to Birchcliff Public School, but most of her childhood and teens were spent on Lavinia, which is why Swansea claims her for their own. She attended Runnymede Collegiate, but didn't graduate because the war started and she went to work (depicted in The Girls They Left Behind). As a new bride, she lived on Gladstone Avenue in Toronto. Her husband was transferred to Peterborough, so they moved to Millbrook when her children were young. In 1956, she and her husband bought their own home on Meldazy Drive in a beautiful new subdivision in Scarborough, when McCowan was a gravel road and north of Ellesmere was farmland. Her books accurately depict these locales in different eras. Toronto is "a character" in her books.

She was interested in writing since early childhood and would often have a captive audience of school chums lined up along the curb to listen to her stories. In her teens, she met and had the temerity to present a story to her idol, L.M. Montgomery. The famous author of Anne Of Green Gables complimented Bernice: "Your characters ring true!...You have a good imagination" – blissful words for the young author's ears, but the next bit of advice was a crushing blow to the fourteen-year-old's already faltering self-esteem. Montgomery said, "A writer must have higher education -- it is imperative that you go to University." The young hopeful went away dejected. What Ms. Montgomery could not know was that Bernice came from a very poor background and had no hope of a University Education. The fateful words stayed buried in her heart for many years. An avid reader, she was self-educated. She often read a book in one night.

She continued to write because writing was as natural to her as breathing. When her own children were small, Bernice wrote for them an ongoing story about their lives in Millbrook, Ontario with themselves as heroines. (Her first manuscript, Kimberley of Millpond, has been published 55 years later in 2010 by her daughter.) Her stories were written in longhand because Bernice didn't own a typewriter. It was not until her children were grown that she decided to try to publish. She obtained an old Underwood typewriter and tapped out a story about her first grandchild, aptly titled, "A Grandchild Can Make Life Beautiful Again". She sent it to The Toronto Star and they published it and sent her a cheque for fifty-dollars. After that she wrote and published numerous stories for children in magazines and anthologies and then went on to publish 17 novels.

Bernice's novels, especially the "Booky" trilogy, are autobiographical in nature. Her strength as a writer lies in her ability to bring her childhood memories vividly to life for her young readers. Because the setting and tone of her novels accurately capture the past, she was acknowledged by the Toronto Historical Society and her books are used in history as well as language programs in schools. She was in constant demand as a guest speaker in schools and libraries across Canada and her daughter, Heather Hunter, now goes in her stead. Heather gives a power point presentation on Bernice's life and works.

Of her school visits, Bernice once said: "My favourite part of a school visit is 'que

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd re-read of 2019
I first read this series when I was in the 6th grade and borrowed them many times from the school library. As soon as they appeared in Scholastic, my mom just had to buy them and I can easily say that they still mean something to me today as an adult. These books give a clear picture of just how hard life was like for a Canadian family during the Great Depression.

Our story is set in the city of Toronto, Ontario in 1932/1933. Bernice Thurman Hunter shows us the men looking for jobs, families being evicted because they cannot pay their rent, the hunger, and the excitement of going to Eaton's and the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE).

Definitely a Canadian treasure

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published by Scholastic, Canada in 1981, Bernice Thurman Hunter's sweet and evocative That Scatterbrain Booky is actually the first installment of a trilogy featuring young Beatrice Thomson and her immediate and extended family's life and struggles during the hard days of Depression era Toronto (the other books of the trilogy are With Love From Booky, As Ever, Booky, and the entire trilogy has also recently been rereleased as Booky: A Trilogy). And from the information about Bernice Thurman Hunter as it is presented on Goodreads, it becomes rather obvious that the Booky trilogy is, in fact, rather autobiographical, and that young Beatrice Thomson very much and very closely mirrors the author herself as a young child, that Beatrice and her family's struggles are, indeed, at least partially, the struggles faced by Bernice Thurman Hunter and her family during much of her own childhood.

And yes, I do love absolutely everything about That Scatterbrain Booky. The sense of place (of 1930s Toronto and its environs) is real and palpable; Toronto as a city, with its landmarks, its department stores, its streetcars almost really and truly feels like an actual character in the book (and the archival photographs included also add to this delightful sense of place). Furthermore young Booky is an absolutely adorable and wonderful narrator. Seeing Toronto, Depression era life and its problems, its many struggles, but also some of its joys through her eyes, through Booky's narrative voice, was and still continues to be both eye-opening and refreshing. That Scatterbrain Booky is simply wonderful, and much of the wonder, the pleasure (even if it is sometimes also painful and sad) comes from the fact that the novel (just like the rest of the trilogy) strives to be realistic, often even brutally realistic, presenting a real and utterly believable mirror of what life was often like during the Great Depression, especially for working-class families like the Thomsons (not being able to pay the rent, being dependent on social welfare, not having enough food for the family, actually arguing about and debating wether it might not be better to put an expected baby up for adoption).

And thus, in many ways, That Scatterbrain Booky is a story with heavy, problematic themes, a novel that could very easily have been first and foremost a hard and devastating description life during the Depression. However, Booky's narration, her many humorous asides, the love and sense of family togetherness and loyalty shown do help to mitigate and relegate that present and often very visible sense of desperation and poverty. For even during the worst fights, even when the father actually strikes the mother, there is (at least for me) a sense that this family really and truly loves one another deeply and lastingly, that while there are definitely problems and instances of dysfunction, these are mostly simply the result of the terrible living conditions and the fact that the father feels ashamed of being out of work and thus a burden to society (and while this in NO way excuses the fact that he hit his wife, it does put the fights, the anger, the arguments somewhat in perspective). And it is furthermore most refreshing that Bernice Thurman Hunter in That Scatterbrain Booky has shown Booky's parents (who really do seem to represent her own parents) realistically, that she has decided to paint a real picture of what the Depression was like for many, that she has not ever sugar-coated her story.

Now That Scatterbrain Booky is divided into short, manageable chapters and has a text that reads easily and flowingly so that most children above the age of eight or nine would likely have no problems with reading and reading comprehension (although they might have some questions regarding historical facts and/or some of the Toronto landmarks, street names etc.). However, because of the rather heavy themes (the poverty, the family arguments, and especially the fact that there are instances of physical abuse as well as physical discipline described in That Scatterbrain Booky), the novel might be better suited for slightly older children (say above the age of ten or eleven). Also, some of the issues mentioned and presented in That Scatterbrain Booky should probably be collectively discussed and debated (as children reading the story might have questions, but even if they do not seem to have questions, there is both room and I think even a need to discuss and analyse some of the heavier themes depicted in That Scatterbrain Booky).

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book about ten-year-old Beatrice and her family during the Great Depression in Toronto, Canada in 1932-33. It's "one of those books" about which I struggle to write an adequate review because I loved it so much, in so many ineffable ways. But, I wanted to get down a few (inadequate) words before I get too busy. I wish there were more reviews of this wonderful book here but I gather that it was never published in the US so the scarcity of reviews might be down to the fact this book isn't widely known. I read it thanks to the recommendation of a friend (Gundula, you rock!) as a book in keeping with the spirit of L. M. Montgomery's books over in our Kindred Spirits Group here on GoodReads and I feel that it definitely fits the spirit. We have a spunky, "scatterbrain" girl, making sense of the world, often with a joyous spirit, but with deep emotions and a curious nature that sometimes makes life very poignant for her. Also, her interest to become a writer seems to be one (out of many professions she became excited over, as young children do!),that sticks, from what I gather about the sequels.

One thing very different from LMM's book is that this is very much a story about family, with a mom and dad and siblings. It's so clear that Booky (her mother calls her this as a special pet name, and it's pronounced Boo-ky, with the "boo" like "boo-hoo") adores her parents, yet she is also at the age when she starts to realize they are not perfect. The parents' constant fighting is a symptom of the very difficult circumstances, with the poor mother working hard to keep a family of four fed, with another baby on the way, and to keep their house spotlessly tidy and their clothes perfectly darned and clean (it is her way of keeping pride for the family despite their destitute state) and the father off looking for work every day (often a fruitless search), taking only scraps at dinner because sacrificing his food is all he can do to help his little ones. Yet, there are also loving moments between them, too. While a few instances of the fighting is hard to read about (in one, and only one, case, the father strikes the mother), it was also impossible to judge them too harshly--the strain on them must have been incredible and I'm sure that even the most loving of couples would not weather such difficult times without some stormy rows.

Booky's siblings also play a large role in the story. There is pretty and intelligent Willa, fifteen years old, the star of the family who earns prizes in school. Arthur, next in line, who is clever but tired of being in Willa's shadow and full of boyish energy. After Booky is Jakey, whom Booky at first resented (she having been the baby of the family for six years) but then came to love. And a new baby is on the way. Booky's extended family also populates the book, just as they populate Toronto and the surrounding area. Indeed, Booky's grandfather's family was one of the first to settle the Swansea area. I thought how jolly it must be to have so many aunts and uncles working all over the city, seeing them as you go shopping or ride the streetcar (and, best of all, when they work at the fair and get you onto rides for free!) but I think my favorite of the extended family were Grandpa Thompson, for his quiet wisdom and abounding love, and Aunt Milly with her warm, cheerful and giving nature--as Booky said, Aunt Milly was one of those people who could joyously shout "I love you!" as you headed off down the street, not caring who heard ;-)

The sense of place in this story is just wonderful. I have never been to Toronto, but it seemed very vivid to me as I read this and I imagine those who are familiar with the city will enjoy picking out the landmarks still visible today. Too, I appreciated how the story offered so many complex views of the *people* who made up the Great Depression. From those who let themselves get really down-and-out, to those like Booky's family determined to keep some sense of pride in the face of adversity, to the upper-classes who would sometimes be so generous to their less fortunate neighbors, even if it was a bit of embarrassment to both for it to take place. Booky's own family was also such a connundrum--on the one hand, her father never liked to accept hand-outs and felt better getting the "pogey" (social welfare) pay when he did some work for it, yet her mother would take a trial rn of a washing machine from the department store, knowing full well she wouldn't keep it, then return it for her money back at the end of the trial. Also, they constantly had to allude the bailiff when they didn't pay rent. I was glad that Booky humanized him, though--at first they called him "the ratman" but then they realized that he was just doing his job, and that he didn't like kicking people out of their homes.

There are so many wonderful moments of wisdom and humor in the book, too. I was cracking up at some of Willa's exchanges with Booky, like with Booky's coming to understand where babies come from! So many scenes are so memorable, and the characters felt REAL, no small feat for such a slim book. I gather that this is a fairly autobiographical book, and I think it's easy to see why it's dedicated "To Mum and Dad, who loved me."

Highly recommended.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in this omnibus edition: Booky: A Trilogy.


Thanks to Goodreads’ friends Gundula, I have a copy of this of my very own, which I am happy to lend out. Another Goodreads friend offered to let me borrow her copies of the three books. What a wonderful site this is! What’s infuriating and disappointing though is how many books from faraway, and not all that far away, places are sometimes not available. Yes, this book is old, but it’s reprinted, and yet it’s not available at my public library. I’ll bet if the events in the book took place in the U.S. and not in Canada, our near neighbor, my library would have the book.

The cover has a painting of a young girl and normally I like deciding for myself what characters look like but turn the first page and there is a photo of a girl who looks exactly like the painting on the cover, and there are more photos. These are autobiographical novels with some non-fiction components.

The storytelling and writing style engaged me from the start. Booky’s narration is wonderful, her story lovingly drawn. So, despite the hunger and poverty and the hitting and yelling and other disturbing content, this book definitely qualifies as a comfort read for me. There was quite a bit of humor. There was a nifty appearance of the book Anne of Green Gables. The author’s vivid and genuine memories of childhood had universal appeal. The relationships and situations felt very genuine. And there was so much hopefulness.

Unfortunately, when I read books about hungry people is when I’m most prone to overeat and Booky’s descriptions of her hunger and the hunger experienced by her family members was vividly told, as were the descriptions of the foods they did eat.

The photographs of people and places and things and events from the time, including some of the author when young, really added to my pleasure of reading the story. It brought the historical fiction even more to life.

What a treasure! It’s ridiculous that just because this book’s events take place in Canada and it’s by a Canadian author, that it’ so difficult to obtain in the U.S. My library should have this edition (it has no Booky books) and I think I’ll recommend they purchase it for lending out. Thanks to Goodreads’ friend Gundula I own this lovely book, and thanks also to Goodreads’ friend Abigail who offered to lend me her 3 Booky books.

I expect this will be my favorite of the three books. The child narrator is so entertaining; in this book she goes in age from shortly before her 10th birthday until shortly after her 11th birthday.

If I’d read this when I was 9, 10, 11 it would have been one of my favorite books. My father talked about the Great Depression some when I was young. He was a young adult by then, but when he was Booky’s age he also lived in extreme poverty, no happy ending for him until he was older than Booky.


ETA:

I read this as a buddy read with Hilary.

Reread 2019/12/7-9 3 days. I’d remembered I’d liked it when I read it over 7-1/2 years ago but I actually remembered very little from it. It was almost like reading it for the first time.

I’d read the first book on my own a long time back. I liked it so much I was scared to continue but I’ve read enough reviews now of the second and third books that I wanted to read all three and I knew I had to reread the first book so it would be fresh in my memory. I wanted to read the trilogy as one book. (Much thanks to Gundula for giving me this copy. Unfortunately, this book is hard to find in the U.S. None of my libraries have it.)

From this trilogy I read the first book and short story that follows book 1 over 7-1/2 years ago. Later today I'm starting again, reading the entire book with HIlary. Eager to get started. I love all the photos.

We were delayed. I own a copy but the Open Library copy Hilary needs to read has been borrowed and has an additional person waiting, not true not that many days ago. It's so frustrating when books aren't available in certain countries. This one I'd think libraries in Canada would have it but that's not true in the United States or in England.

I’d already written reviews for the first book and the story that comes between books one and two, the parts I reread. I’ll add my notes to those and my reviews and reading of books two and three will be brand new.

The only frustrating thing is that seems so much more like a biography/non-fiction than a novel. There are even many photos of the people/characters. I don’t know what is true and what is fictionalized. The photographs are wonderful!

So after my second read of book 1 and the short story. I liked the short story but to me it seems like the last chapter of book 1.

I love Booky and her mother too. The story is great. I can feel what it felt like to be poor in the Great Depression with this family and the people they know who live near or are relatives and friends. Great historical fiction! The many photos included and knowing this book was based on the author’s life have me curious about what was true and what was fictionalized.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful book that I loved ever since I was a 10 year old kid. It's about another 10 year old girl growing up in Toronto during the 1930's (the depression years). The family has a lot of struggles but they always make it through somehow. The author makes everything so real that you must think it has to be based on some kind of true story. It is, an always be, a favourite of mine.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 1981, this slender little paperback packs quite a punch! The first of a trilogy of books depicting a young girl's experiences growing up in Depression-era Toronto - it is followed by With Love From Booky and As Ever, Booky - it is by turns humorous and heartbreaking, never shying away from depicting the disturbing realities of life during that tumultuous time, but also giving full expression to the joys and pleasures of childhood, and of family life. Chronicling the adventures of Booky (Beatrice) Thomson, and the trials and tribulations that she and her family endure from 1932 through 1933, when her father is (despite all his better efforts) unemployed, and her family is continually being evicted by the bailiff, That Scatterbrain Booky is a record of hunger - the book opens as Booky hands her mother a note from the school nurse, to the effect that she (Booky) is more than twenty pounds underweight, and therefore qualifies for free government milk - and the unhappiness caused by want; but it is also a loving portrait of a family that, despite the strains put upon them by their real and pressing need, is bound together by the ties of love.

Booky is a engaging narrator, with a distinctive (and distinctly amusing) voice all her own, and watching events unfold through her eyes is both hilarious and poignant - often all at once. Her little asides, and ruminations on the people around her are quite amusing, as are her innocent observations and unasked questions: Where do babies come from? If Uncle Charlie sends his baby girl "back," because he wants a son instead, where would she go back to? Impressively, Bernice Thurman Hunter manages to include some terribly devastating episodes - a family fight in which Booky's father strikes her mother; an overheard conversation, in which Booky's mother considers giving up her unborn child for adoption, because she cannot afford to feed the four children she already has - in her story, and still preserve the essentially carefree feeling of the book as a whole. This is because she really is telling the story through a child's eyes - her own eyes, as I understand these books are largely autobiographical.

Compulsively readable, immensely enjoyable, and greatly moving, That Scatterbrain Booky is a title that I highly recommend, to all young readers who enjoy historical fiction, and to anyone interested in Depression-era Toronto. I had no sooner set it down, then I was reaching for the second installment of Booky's story, With Love From Booky .

[John Dishwasher John Dishwasher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hunter demonstrates in this story how we are conditioned into our luxuries, and ease, and comfort. I don’t know if this was exactly her intention, but telling a Canadian Great Depression tale in the first person from the perspective of a resilient and optimistic 10-year-old girl has that effect. Growing up in that privation she mostly sees the hardship as life, not as privation -- Except for the hunger. And whatever embarrassment and humiliation she might feel for being poor always comes from others putting that shame on her ... so … conditioning. You can’t be downcast about a lean Christmas unless you’ve been taught to expect a bountiful one (or, for that matter, unless you’ve been taught Christmas exists.)

Adults writing a child’s tale in a faux-child voice, however, always feels affected and patronizing to me. I don’t think children’s writers do that anymore. This book is 40 years old. It has more of a chronology than a plot. I didn’t actually enjoy it much, but I did find it interesting. And the character’s unflappable spontaneity and gift for living in the moment felt authentic.

[Kimberly O'Meara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another story about a girl growing up poor in toronto during the depression. Read this and then read it to your pre teens daughters-they'll eat it up and get them off the Wii for a few minutes.

[Charleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depression era Toronto memoir. I loved it as a child and really enjoyed sharing it with my kids, especially as some of it takes place near where their grandparents are. All three are a good read, some mature themes (puberty).

[Cynthia Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book (and the sequels) so many times since I was a kid, I've lost count. I understand it better every time, and it's all the more relevant today. Booky (Beatrice) Thompson is a 10 year old "scatterbrain" in 1932 Toronto. Her father is out of work, like so many other families she knows, and the family is constantly being evicted from their homes because of it (again, not uncommon.) Booky is incredibly endearing, and you really root for the family to make it through the Great Depression.

Today, though, it's the history that gets me. I LOVE reading about Toronto in the 1930s. It absolutely fascinates me.

[LauraW · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for its honest depiction of the trials of family life during the depression. In its depiction of everyday life during historical times, it reminds me of Anne of Green Gables. The book is similarly episodic and filled with little vignettes of experiences.

And I enjoyed the main character, Beatrice. One minor gripe, though, is that I don't quite understand how she got the appellation "Scatterbrain". She seems to have had dyscalculia long before that was even beginning to have a ready name for the condition, but I didn't see her as especially scatterbrained.

[Jayme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, quick read. A must for anyone who lives or grew up in Toronto.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series basically formed my entire understanding of what it was like to live through the Great Depression in Toronto.

[Paul Riches · Rating 5 out of 5]

Booky Teaches History In Her Journey



Her name is Beatrice Thomson. Her nickname is Booky. But it feels pretty obvious this is really all about the author, the late Bernice Thurman Hunter.

Booky A Trilogy is three novels, That Scatterebrained Booky from 1981, and With Love from Booky from 1983 and As Ever, Booky from 1985 and the short story Visitors from Saskatoon from 1981, make up the tale of this young girl growing up.

And yes, this is one of those fictionalized biographies just like Mildred D Taylor and Watson Choy and Louise Fitzhugh and Betty Smith have done as well.

Booky has one big advantage for these other books, which I dearly loved, in that it takes place in my hometown Toronto, and the other big advantage is that it is filled with history. Two great things together!

But back to the story of Booky itself.

Booky is Beatrice’s childhood nickname, a young girl living in Depression era 1930’s Toronto with her loving family. Her dad looks for work, they go by Eaton’s department store, have to money, move quite abit, hang around relatives, write letters, and many many many more small adventures over the course of time. Booky lives and learns and loves and becomes the person who will one day, when she is much older, write a version of her life.

To compliment this journey, Hunter has photos and old ads scattered throughout the book, which massively helps brings this past to life.

While family love and surviving the Depression being major themes here, another is the turmoil in Europe leading to World War Two. Many books cover this same territory, and from the youth perspective, so some would say Booky just adds to that chorus. My diplomatic response is…. so what? World War Two was one of the most traumatic world events ever, and every story, whether fictional or non-fictional or semi-fictional, should be documented. Because we hope we all learn from it so it never happens again.

Thankfully the Booky series was extremely popular, so its lessons could be absorbed. To help with this, Booky was made into a television movie and a play, that I have never seen.

I got this amazing volume at a Little Free Library and is so very very very glad I did.

Scoopriches


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[S. Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite series as a young girl. Bonus points for all things Canadian! I loved it that there was FINALLY books set in my home country. I think I borrowed them from an older cousin and loved them so much I then purchased them as an adult. Just so I could own them. A plucky heroine living an ordinary family life, written in a wholesome way. Highly recommend.

[Tabitha TB · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this at a used bookstore recently, and immediately remembered having loved the trilogy as a child.

I adored this one every bit as much 30+ years later and can’t wait to reread the next two.

[Kristal · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing firsthand account of the author's childhood living in Toronto during the depression. It may be catalogued as "young adult fiction" but I have read this at least once a year since the first time I picked it up at the age of 9 and the stories only seem to resonate more as I age (and certainly since I moved to Toronto at age 22). This book truly makes me smile, cry and cringe at the various misadventures of Booky and her family.
Do not watch the terrible tv movies that have recently been produced. They fail to capture the spirit of the books and are a lazy adaptation of the stories.

[Yue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book I wish I've read back in Middle School. It is like a better version of The Keeping Days: I liked this family much better, and Beatrice is a much likeable narrator. Just like in TKD, Beatrice is the 3rd child (Willa the eldest, next is Arthur and last the youngest, one of 1 and the baby boy of the family).

I don't read books from the Depression era since I was in school, but in spite of all their hardships (specially the father without a job) the children had a nice life and were all good taken care of.

[B.j. Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband showed me this book when we were cleaning up our bookshelves, and he told me he remembered reading it as a child. So I zipped through it because it isn't very often he recommends a book to me. Booky is a truly lovable child who is struggling to survive through The Great Depression with her family. Eviction notes, terrible choices, parental issues all play a part in this novel that tugged at my heartstrings. Great choice by my husband. I recommend this for young readers.

[cosmic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it because it takes place in Toronto and I know most of the streets and places mentioned. It was really neat to read about what Toronto was like during the Depression. It was like a history lesson, but way more interesting.

[Lindsay Nichols · Rating 2 out of 5]

Funny, I remember liking Booky more when I was little...just reading again recently it didn't move me the way I thought it would. Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood, or place, or I read too quickly...

I can't figure out if a lot of things happened, or nothing happened at all....

[Ambika · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really good and I learned about the great depression, although at times I got a bit confused. I think this book was very cute because the book was at Booky's perspective and she said many cute things.

[H · Rating 5 out of 5]

These were some of my favourite books when I was 8 or 10. I must have read the series about 20 times. Thanks Booky!

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

read this as a kid- but i read the whole series like 8 times! About a girl growing up during the depression in Toronto (the author actually). i loved the local references.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really cute, for a kid's book! I'd recommend it for kids. :)

[Bri · Rating 4 out of 5]

fully in escapism mode and rereading childhood books (but now with a working knowledge of Toronto geography!)

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn reminded me of this series. A wonderful portrayal of a child's life during depression era Toronto. Booky will steal your heart.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I respect those who loved this, but I just can't bear to read about that much suffering. This served as neither escape nor enlightenment, which are the two primary reasons that I read.

[Theshanster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neat that its set in Toronto.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My all time favorite book. Booky is one of my greatest inspirations in life.