The Saltbox Sweater

by Janet McNaughton

This realistic story of life in rural Newfoundland after the 1992 moratorium on northern cod stocks is written to appeal to newly independent readers.

Paperback

First published June 16, 2001

About the author

Janet McNaughton is the multi-award-winning author of many books, including The Secret Under My Skin, An Earthly Knight and her most recent novel, Dragon Seer, which was shortlisted for the prestigious TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, as well as both the CLA Young Adult Book Award and the Book of the Year for Children Award. McNaughton lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland, with her family.

Reviews

[Capn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, light fluff of a story set in fictional Quinter Cove, NFLD, after the cod fisheries moratorium. Nine-year old Katie's relatives are moving off to Alberta for work, the school at Avalon Station has to combine grades to make full classes, and Nanny Grace's 200 year old Saltbox House is demolished on the opening page. Not long afterwards, Katie's widowed mother Celia is laid off as the local grocery store closes down. Can the Johnsons stay in Quinter Cove? And if they do, will they have enough food for the winter?

Here's a story representing the brave and industrious Newfoundlanders who stayed behind after the fishery and the fish processing plants shut down and retrained in handicrafts to make ends meet.

Characters were solid, in spite of a Spartan sixty-five pages and a beginner's reading level. Plot necessarily light. I'm not a teacher, but this would make an easy assignment on the maritimes and the effects of the 1992 cod moratorium.

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book is very good for a book that you see at the library, and read without looking into.