Western Wind

by Paula Fox

Rebelling when she is sent to stay at her Grandmother's Maine island home after the birth of her brother, twelve-year-old Elizabeth befriends the strange son of her only neighbors and comes to unexpectedly respect her Grandmother. Reprint.

Genres: Childrens, Realistic Fiction, Juvenile

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Paula Fox was an American author of novels for adults and children and two memoirs. Her novel The Slave Dancer (1973) received the Newbery Medal in 1974; and in 1978, she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal. More recently, A Portrait of Ivan won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 2008.

A teenage marriage produced a daughter, Linda, in 1944. Given the tumultuous relationship with her own biological parents, she gave the child up for adoption. Linda Carroll, the daughter Fox gave up for adoption, is the mother of musician Courtney Love.

Fox then attended Columbia University, married the literary critic and translator Martin Greenberg, raised two sons, taught, and began to write.

Reviews

[Guilherme Semionato · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5

[Shanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eleven-year-old Elizabeth, newly a big sister, goes to spend a month with her grandmother on a remote island. Elizabeth thinks it's because her parents want more time with the new baby, but it turns out to be another reason: turns out grandma has health issues and the adults thought it would be good for grandma and Elizabeth to be together, but they decided not to tell Elizabeth that her grandma is sick. There is only one other cabin on the island, occupied by a family made up of four very quirky individuals. The family dynamics in this story are strange, but Fox's writing style makes for an engaging and heartwarming story.

[Doug Thorsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is so nice to 'discover' new authors. My brother had told me about Paula Fox, but as often happens I had a stack of other stuff to read. 2 years later I got around to checking out her writing. You know a book is good when you can read it in one sitting. This is such a sad children's book. I could see this being profound to a middle school kid though. I can't wait to read Desperate Characters. I will first read the other book I was able to check out from the library. Next up, The Slave Dancer.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book in a giveaway at school in 5th grade and it immediately became my absolute favorite. I remember reading it over and over again, memorizing the poems that Gran teaches Elizabeth, and generally being obsessed with it.

When I learned that the author died earlier this year I decided to re-read it. I think it lives up to my memories of it. The writing is beautiful and I sobbed at the ending. It's very quiet and there's not that much of a plot, but I still love it.

[Antonia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Das Buch an sich ist wirklich gut und hat einen süßen Inhalt. Ab der Hälfte wird es auch zunehmend besser. Die deutsche Übersetzung ist dennoch miserabel, abgehackt, unzusammenhängend und macht es unfassbar schwer in einen Lauf zu kommen. Dennoch war das Ende herzergreifend und ich habe den letzten Satz geliebt:)

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

2025 ReRead: I never realized until now how much I identify with the children in how some kids books are sometimes written, where the kids are confused about what the adults around them mean, having a vague idea with a strong emotional response but being confused by that response because they don't understand what's going on. captures the autistic experience really well.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a good read for upper elementary or early middle school. If I were still teaching, I might try it as a read aloud. It is very well written and has relevant themes such as sibling rivalry, relations between generations, respect for differences and more..

[Adriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing and has a really good meaning

[Lucy Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paula Fox is a great author. Everything I’ve read of hers has great heart and this book was no exception. I read it in a day.

[Jasna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Habs als Teenager mal gelesen und jetzt wiedergefunden.
Zum größten Teil anstrengend, aber ich mag das (traurige) Ende.

[Story Revolution]

This was a very interesting book. When I first loooked at the title I had very little interest in it, but yuo know what they say, "You can never judge a book by its cover." When I opened the book up to read the summary I was very surprised. It was very different than I thought it would be. An eleven-year-old girl named Elizabeth is sent to Maine to visit her grandmother for the whole month of August. She is not very excited about it and doesn't really want to go. When she gets there it is like a whole different world to her. It looks very different to her. This is only the second or third time Elizabeth has met her Grandmother in person. She feels kind of awkward and does not know what they will talk about or what Gran will question her about. Gran starts asking Elizabeth questions and she does not know what kind of answer Gran wants so she answers with a yes or no. Gran knows she feels awkward and tells her it's okay. Elizabeth learns many things about Gran and her family. Gran loves to tell stories. Her favorite things to do are to draw and paint. Elizabeth meets many new people. She gets close with Gran's neighbors. They are very different. They are loud and treat their children in a not so good way. Aaron, one of the sons really starts to like Elizabeth. She takes him down to the cemetary and to the dock often. One night Aaron gets lost. he is nowhere to be found. Later that day Elizabeth finds out something she never knew about Gran. I will let you read the rest to find out what happens next. This was a pretty good book but to tell you the truth, it didn't start getting good until about the middle. I would recommend this book to people in between fourth and eighth grade.

[Lars Guthrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinarily beautiful. While caught up in Jonathan Franzen's fifteen minutes of fame and infamy ("The Corrections") in 2001, I was caught by his observation that so many great writers go relatively unrecognized and his recommendation of Fox (and particularly "Desperate Characters"). Thankyou, Jonathan. I have a list Of Fox's children's books (22, I've read ten now) so I keep her in mind, and found this in my local library's book sale for fifteen cents! I hesitate to say too much, but it is a simple story that touches on childhood fears and desires, as well as those of older people. My reading was certainly enriched by having read Fox's autobiography, "Borrowed Finery," because this one also has some autobiographical moments. It also resonated due to my own childhood summer in Maine on Orr's Island. My highest recommendation.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book hit me so close to home with how I had such little tolerance for my grandmothers, and always felt so sorry for the one who lived alone, yet I don't really know of she was lonely or not. She just always seemed so sad. Also with the death of my daughter's grandmother just a year behind us, I wonder how my daughter viewed my mother.
Not a particularly apt title as the "western wind" was barely mentioned (unless I missed it?).
In 2016, I read this book again as it has not been checked out of our school library for over 5 years, and is on the 'endangered' list of being weeded. I wanted to find a reason to keep it, and figure out an audience for it. I still like the story, and I think a different cover would attract some readers (my edition has the cover shown above - very drab for today's youngsters).
However, I think the character Aaron would resonate with some youngsters.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parental warning: There is a bit of language in this book, such as "hell" and "for god's sake."

Otherwise the story is very good. I feel like the description is a bit misleading. Such as Elizabeth being "drawn to the strange boy" seems to indicate a romantic entanglement, but in the book Elizabeth and the boy are about 5 years apart in age. And the summary also talks about what happens when she leaves the island, but the ending really takes place BEFORE she leaves the island and nothing of much shock happens when Elizabeth returns home.

I saw the ending coming from quite early on, but it was still a very good read.

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved the style of this story that could be described as nothing but energetic and spunky. Aaron is a memorable and wonderful personality, unique and lovable and totally unfettered. Paula Fox's mind, in creating such a full person, shows its writing genius to be the formidable force that it truly is.
I think on this story and the people in it with fondness and laughter, but the resonance of the book's emotional terrain also stay with me very powerfully. Paula Fox proved herself to me quite well in the pages of this novel.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

11 year old Elizabeth is shipped off to a remote island in Maine to spend a month with her grandmother after her brother is born. She's an engaging heroine, spunky and flawed. There were some clunky moments, but by the end of the book, I was liking the writing style more.

[Cws]

JAR4-Fox

[Holly Ristau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read in 2014 and don't remember it so am only giving it 2 stars. Here's what I wrote after reading: A girl goes to stay with her grandmother on an island and learned lots.