Worlds Apart

by Lindsay Lee Johnson

It's 1959 and Winnie's family is moving to rural Minnesota. Are there even phones there? How will she keep up with her group of best friends, the Starlings? Besides, something isn't right. Her parents are keeping secrets, and Winnie is under strict orders to "keep family matters private." In Minnesota, Winnie finds out that her father's new job requires her family to live on the grounds of a mental institution--"a prison for freaks," Winnie concludes. The Bridgewater State Hospital is near an Indian reservation and surrounded by small farms. It's only a mile from her new school, but that mile brings her into a different world. At school Winnie is ridiculed not only as the new kid but as the girl who lives at the local nuthouse. At first the only thing Winnie thinks about is how to get back to her friends and her "real" life in Chicago, but eventually she is swept up in a world full of people and events that cause her to question her former life and then to see everything in a new light--her parents, the Starlings, her new friends, and herself.

Genres: Historical Fiction

168 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 2005

Reviews

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Johnson's second book for young readers, and much better than her first book, Soul Moon Soup. Thirteen-year-old Winona and her parents have trouble adjusting to a move from Chicago, where Winnie is a member of a school clique called the Starlings, to a remote small town in Minnesota, where they live in a house on the grounds of a mental institution. What I liked best about this book, which I read all in one sitting, was the way Winnie grew as a character through her interactions with the small town kids, the institution's staff and patients, and a Native American boy from the Indian section of town. Several of the characters have secrets which are revealed in the course of the story, showing how keeping secrets may not always be best. I also enjoyed the 1959 setting, which Johnson brought out with references to fashions and music of the time period. The only fault I found with this book was the lack of a historical note at the end explaining some of the background history behind why mental institutions were the way they were back then, and explaining some of the other attitudes of the period. After reading this, I certainly want to read more about the history of mental institutions and the treatment of the mentally ill. Highly recommended!

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worlds Apart by Lindsay Lee Johnson is about a young girl named Winnie who has lived her whole life in Chicago and has lived and had a life there. Until one day she has to move to Minnesota for her dads job that requires them to move. She doesn't know why but her parents have asked her to pack and move right away. Her life in Minnesota is not the same as it was in Chicago. She and her mom have trouble adjusting to Minnesota, everything is different. Winnie doesn't feel the same no more. How can she handle being in a new place with new people and a new place thats a mental institution were she is surrounded with people with many diseases. She fights to go back home because living there for her is just a horrible thing. I would recommend this book because it makes you think bout how there is situations were we need to adjust to because not everything can come out perfect.

[Jen Traub · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting coming of age story about a girl, Winnie, who is forced to move to a mental institution where her father is a doctor. She feels bound by the secrets her family keeps. Interesting themes of racism (an Indian reservation plays a part) and mental health, but definitely for older readers as it deals with abortion and other heavy topics.

[Harini Jayaweera]

This story is about a girl named Winne. She is an ordinary teenager in Chicago, but one day his world changed completely.
She had to move to Minnesota.
She has to live there due to her father's work.
Her parents are keeping a secret from her and telling her to keep her "family has a secret"
His father made many crimes that Winnie did not know about until later in the book.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many (largely annoying) issues in a book too young and superficial to handle them. Bump your research up an audience.