Jenny Wren

by Dawn L. Watkins

Jenny Wren, a welfare child, comes to stay with an old farmer and his wife despite the misgivings of some officials. At first silent and distrustful, Jenny warms to the Logans, learning from them about logging, farming, and love. When confronted with a change too hard for her to accept, however, Jenny runs away. When she wants to go back, she finds that she has done more damage than she had thought. Now her home may change again, but Jenny learns the most important thing of all. For grade 4-7.

Genres: Middle Grade, Fiction, Childrens, Christian, Family, Christian Fiction

138 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Brandon Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 stars for fantastic, down to earth, very dear characters. Friend of mine described them as her "Jenny Wren friends", and that is as apt a description as I've ever heard of anything. Just... really wonderful characters who do really unexpected but relatable things.

1 star for bad prose. For the most part this book read like "...and then this happened and then this happened and then this happened..." Good descriptions were sprinkled in every other chapter or so, but not enough to save the thing. Show don't tell, please. I beg of you.

In the end, I'll split the difference. I really wanted to like this book because the characters were so real. Now I just feel bad giving them only three stars.
I'll survive.

[Angie Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhhh, this was such a sweet story! I felt so bad for dear little Jenny, and I loved the Logans from the very beginning. I was rooting so hard for everything to work out, and for Jenny to open up her heart to love and hope. Also really loved her social worker, and the representation of the caring people who work in the system, along with those who mean well but let their prejudices get in the way. I borrowed this because I wasn't sure I'd like it, but now I want my own copy. <3

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kind of love the fact that this book even exists! Haha. It addresses some of what a child in foster care goes through, so it’s not always an emotionally easy read. And yet I would heartily recommend it for 3rd graders (and thereabouts)! One thing I didn’t like so much is that the author relies so heavily on showing. Writers are always being told, “Show, don’t tell!” But this writer took that a little too far for my tastes. It made the story drag a bit in places and made me have to work harder to figure out what was going on. Haha. But even that would be a good exercise for the mind of a third grader! Plus, the end almost had me in tears, so I think I can forgive the excessive showing. Haha. :)

[Elizabeth Tuecke · Rating 4 out of 5]

blast from the PAST #2

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great inspirational book for 9-12 yr olds!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great and still deserves 5 stars. But, if I could change something, I'd make Jenny Wren more gentle and polite.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed it!

[Lori]

A book about foster care and its trials as a child. Things aren't perfect, but they are OK. Jenny learns that there are consequences to her actions and that people still love you when you mess up.

[Keri · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was really good. I loved almost everything about it. There was a little bit of repeated words as well as words like said and like. but in the whole it was a really good book and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes happy endings with Bible verses.