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What Flowers Remember
"Most folks probably think gardens only get tended when they're blooming. But most folks would be wrong. According to the almanac, a proper gardener does something every single month. Old Red Clancy was definitely a proper gardener. That's whyI enrolled myself in the Clancy School of Gardening. If I was going to learn about flowers, I wanted to learn from the best."
Delia and Old Red Clancy make quite a pair. He has the know-how and she has the get-up-and-go. When they dream up a seed- and flower-selling business, well, look out, Tucker's Ferry, because here they come. But something is happening to Old Red. And the doctors say he can't be cured. He's forgetting places and names and getting cranky for no reason. As his condition worsens, Delia takes it upon herself to save as many memories as she can. Her mission is to gather Old Red's stories so that no one will forget, and she corrals everybody in town to help her.
WHAT FLOWERS REMEMBER is the story of love and loss, of a young girl coming to understand that even when people die, they live on in our minds, our hearts, and our stories.
2015 Notable Children’s Books in the English Language Arts
Bank Street 2015 Best Children’s Books of the Year (ages 12-14)
Lamplighter Award nominee, 6th-8th, 2015-2016
VOYA Magazine, Top Shelf Honoree 2014
Delia and Old Red Clancy make quite a pair. He has the know-how and she has the get-up-and-go. When they dream up a seed- and flower-selling business, well, look out, Tucker's Ferry, because here they come. But something is happening to Old Red. And the doctors say he can't be cured. He's forgetting places and names and getting cranky for no reason. As his condition worsens, Delia takes it upon herself to save as many memories as she can. Her mission is to gather Old Red's stories so that no one will forget, and she corrals everybody in town to help her.
WHAT FLOWERS REMEMBER is the story of love and loss, of a young girl coming to understand that even when people die, they live on in our minds, our hearts, and our stories.
2015 Notable Children’s Books in the English Language Arts
Bank Street 2015 Best Children’s Books of the Year (ages 12-14)
Lamplighter Award nominee, 6th-8th, 2015-2016
VOYA Magazine, Top Shelf Honoree 2014
158 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 2014
2 people are currently reading
513 people want to read
About the author
Shannon Wiersbitzky
2 books20 followersWords have always had the power to move me. That is probably why I’ve always loved writing. It grounds me.
Besides writing, one of my favorite things is to kayak on the Sassafras River. My family and I spend as much time as we can there during the summer. We catch crabs , fish, practice cannonballs and read. As you can tell….it is not a stressful place.
My first novel, The Summer of Hammers and Angels, was inspired, in part, by my experiences with Habitat for Humanity. Part of the proceeds benefit Habitat.
My second novel, What Flowers Remember, was inspired by my experience with my grandfather. He had Alzheimer's and forgot me. Park of the proceeds benefit the Alzheimer's Association.
*****
Shannon Wiersbitzky was born in North Dakota, but has lived in West Virginia, Florida, Minnesota, Michigan and North Carolina. She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, her two sons, one dull fish and her entertaining mutt Benson.
Besides writing, one of my favorite things is to kayak on the Sassafras River. My family and I spend as much time as we can there during the summer. We catch crabs , fish, practice cannonballs and read. As you can tell….it is not a stressful place.
My first novel, The Summer of Hammers and Angels, was inspired, in part, by my experiences with Habitat for Humanity. Part of the proceeds benefit Habitat.
My second novel, What Flowers Remember, was inspired by my experience with my grandfather. He had Alzheimer's and forgot me. Park of the proceeds benefit the Alzheimer's Association.
*****
Shannon Wiersbitzky was born in North Dakota, but has lived in West Virginia, Florida, Minnesota, Michigan and North Carolina. She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, her two sons, one dull fish and her entertaining mutt Benson.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 9, 2014
In the small town of Tucker's Ferry in West Virginia, there lived a middle-grade school girl, named, Delia, who is equally innocent and very naive, and loved gardening flowers and tending to them for ages- Indeed her passion! Her old neighbor, named Old Red, who is old as a hill, used to share the same passion of Delia. Together they used to plant the seeds, talked flowers and tended to every flower's needs. But when Old Red started forgetting stuffs, Delia fears that he would lose all his stories, hence to help retain Old Red's memory, Delia hops from one house to another to collect Old Red's young life stories, to share with him.
Isn't the blurb really fantastic and quite unique? Such a young girl, who deals with Alzheimer’s disease that had affected Old Red's mind and soul.
I'd like to thank the author, Shannon Wiersbitzky, for giving me this opportunity to read and review her book.
In Shannon Wiersbitzky's new book, What Flowers Remember, the author tells us how a deadly disease can affect not only the patient who is suffering from but also their close and near loved ones' lives. Moreover, how Alzheimer’s affects a young girl's life more than anything and her way of dealing with the disease which affected her gardening partner.
Delia might sound like very naive and clueless, but instead she is just the opposite. The author has narrated this remarkable tale through a young girl's eyes, and hence we get the sniff and flair of Delia's naiveness in her words and it actually feels like an eight-year old is narrating her journey! We never know about these kids’ feelings, about losing someone, because we could not ponder over their emotions or over their very core of the soul. But the author has marvelously and quite brilliantly made us realize about an eight-year old's feelings and pain. Also Delia's innocence feels like a fresh breath of air. The style of writing and the author's prose has made me completely hook into her mesmerizing tale and the way Delia has captured the disease and the fear of losing Old Red is quite compelling.
This is a perfect book-break from all those heavy emotional and intellectual reads for me and indeed this book can be enjoyed by any age-group.
Isn't the blurb really fantastic and quite unique? Such a young girl, who deals with Alzheimer’s disease that had affected Old Red's mind and soul.
I'd like to thank the author, Shannon Wiersbitzky, for giving me this opportunity to read and review her book.
In Shannon Wiersbitzky's new book, What Flowers Remember, the author tells us how a deadly disease can affect not only the patient who is suffering from but also their close and near loved ones' lives. Moreover, how Alzheimer’s affects a young girl's life more than anything and her way of dealing with the disease which affected her gardening partner.
Delia might sound like very naive and clueless, but instead she is just the opposite. The author has narrated this remarkable tale through a young girl's eyes, and hence we get the sniff and flair of Delia's naiveness in her words and it actually feels like an eight-year old is narrating her journey! We never know about these kids’ feelings, about losing someone, because we could not ponder over their emotions or over their very core of the soul. But the author has marvelously and quite brilliantly made us realize about an eight-year old's feelings and pain. Also Delia's innocence feels like a fresh breath of air. The style of writing and the author's prose has made me completely hook into her mesmerizing tale and the way Delia has captured the disease and the fear of losing Old Red is quite compelling.
This is a perfect book-break from all those heavy emotional and intellectual reads for me and indeed this book can be enjoyed by any age-group.
October 31, 2015
What a breath of fresh air to find a book about Alzheimer’s written from the perspective of a young girl, someone who is able to see her elderly friend, “Old Red,” as a person, not a disease. Her endeavors to “help him remember,” are innocently tender, allowing the reader to see his decline through the eyes of a child. Those of us who are family caregivers might all learn a thing or two from Delia and begin the process to uncover a pathway to erase the stigma often attached to this devastating disease. Highly recommend this read to anyone, young or old, in a situation where a loved one has dementia/Alzheimer’s.
February 10, 2015
In the small, idyllic southern town of Tucker’s Ferry, sometime in the near past (1980s?), Delia loves nothing more than learning about flowers and gardening with her neighbor Old Red Clancy. As the year progresses, however, she realizes that Old Red is forgetting things. Devastated to think that he will lose his memories, Delia decides to collect them for him, and write them down so he—and she—will never forget.
There was a lot about this book that I loved. Mostly, I loved the world-building and lush sensory detail filling every page—all those gorgeous flowers and all that luscious pie! I loved the comparison of the scent of honeysuckle to melted sugar; honeysuckle is one of my favorite fragrances. The author wonderfully evokes the idyll of the town, and not just in sensory detail but in the loving relationships of the townspeople to Old Red. It reminded me of Star’s Hollow from Gilmore Girls; the place everyone wants to live. I also really liked the observations about life, memory, flowers, etc. There’s a lot of insight there, but couched in age-appropriate language. What I was not so sure about was the structure. I love episodic books so I was okay with that, but the time jumps made for a very long time frame for a relatively short book, and it felt more like a structure that would work better for adults—not sure about that. It felt as though a lot of information was left out or missing, hopping from month to month. And along those lines, I did get frustrated with the author when she often presented information as if the reader had always known about it, like the mother’s being hit by lightning, when really it’s the first we’ve heard of it. I kept flipping back on things to see if I’d missed something, and that was irritating. But overall I came away thinking it was a lovely book, and I wished I lived in Tucker’s Ferry. (In the 1980s or whenever—before the tech boom, but after TV remotes were invented, evidently.)
There was a lot about this book that I loved. Mostly, I loved the world-building and lush sensory detail filling every page—all those gorgeous flowers and all that luscious pie! I loved the comparison of the scent of honeysuckle to melted sugar; honeysuckle is one of my favorite fragrances. The author wonderfully evokes the idyll of the town, and not just in sensory detail but in the loving relationships of the townspeople to Old Red. It reminded me of Star’s Hollow from Gilmore Girls; the place everyone wants to live. I also really liked the observations about life, memory, flowers, etc. There’s a lot of insight there, but couched in age-appropriate language. What I was not so sure about was the structure. I love episodic books so I was okay with that, but the time jumps made for a very long time frame for a relatively short book, and it felt more like a structure that would work better for adults—not sure about that. It felt as though a lot of information was left out or missing, hopping from month to month. And along those lines, I did get frustrated with the author when she often presented information as if the reader had always known about it, like the mother’s being hit by lightning, when really it’s the first we’ve heard of it. I kept flipping back on things to see if I’d missed something, and that was irritating. But overall I came away thinking it was a lovely book, and I wished I lived in Tucker’s Ferry. (In the 1980s or whenever—before the tech boom, but after TV remotes were invented, evidently.)
June 2, 2014
Since reading Shannon Wiersbitzky's last book, The Summer of Hammers & Angels, I've been looking forward to what comes next for Delia, Tommy, and the entire cast of characters who live in Tucker's Ferry. I so enjoyed that book and Shannon is truly a gifted writer.
When I sat down to dig in to the follow up, What Flowers Remember, I knew I was in for another great story, but didn't know that I would find so much more than that.
Inside these pages is a deeply personal and affecting journey centered on young Delia and her grandfatherly neighbor Old Red, as they experience what many of us have had the misfortune of enduring as memory slips into the black hole of a suffering Alzheimer patient's mind.
As I digested the perfect detail and eloquent turns of phrase that I've come to expect in Shannon's work, I found myself identifying with the emotions Delia experienced as she grappled with the confusion, anger, and hopelessness that Alzheimer's brings to those who must watch their loved ones lose a lifetime of memories.
Wiersbitzky relates these emotions in a way that is both personal and accessible, while at the same time displaying the innocence of viewing the situation through the eyes of a child coming of age.
This is a story of the beauty and impact that a single life can have on a community and its people. An impact that doesn't diminish, even when those experiences are forgotten by the one who created them.
I read books because stories matter. They remind us to feel, and feel deeply. To not bury experiences and feelings both good and bad, but celebrate them, share them, and revel in them. This book does this, and more. I highly recommend it.
When I sat down to dig in to the follow up, What Flowers Remember, I knew I was in for another great story, but didn't know that I would find so much more than that.
Inside these pages is a deeply personal and affecting journey centered on young Delia and her grandfatherly neighbor Old Red, as they experience what many of us have had the misfortune of enduring as memory slips into the black hole of a suffering Alzheimer patient's mind.
As I digested the perfect detail and eloquent turns of phrase that I've come to expect in Shannon's work, I found myself identifying with the emotions Delia experienced as she grappled with the confusion, anger, and hopelessness that Alzheimer's brings to those who must watch their loved ones lose a lifetime of memories.
Wiersbitzky relates these emotions in a way that is both personal and accessible, while at the same time displaying the innocence of viewing the situation through the eyes of a child coming of age.
This is a story of the beauty and impact that a single life can have on a community and its people. An impact that doesn't diminish, even when those experiences are forgotten by the one who created them.
I read books because stories matter. They remind us to feel, and feel deeply. To not bury experiences and feelings both good and bad, but celebrate them, share them, and revel in them. This book does this, and more. I highly recommend it.
July 8, 2015
What Flowers Remember by Shannon Wiersbitzky follows early-teen, Delia, through two years of her life as this sensitive young girl watches her elderly neighbor, Old Red, transform from a healthy grandfather figure to a man losing his mind and memories to dementia/Alzheimer’s disease. The entire small, close-knit community of Tucker’s Ferry, West Virginia loves Old Red.
Wiersbitzky artfully weaves this story of the emotional development of Delia by comparing human life with nature and flowers. Flowers are the sum of the genealogy of the seed from parent plants, just as Old Red is the sum of the memories from the small community in which he lived. Delia collects memories from Old Red’s family and friends and journals his life. She papers the walls of his room in his nursing home with these writings and pictures in hopes that Old Red won’t forget who he is, and that those who tend to his care come to know him for the capable man he was, rather than seeing him only as his disease. Through the process of honoring Old Red’s life, Delia comes to terms with his eventual death and in turn sees herself as a part of Old Red that lives on through the many memories she has of him.
I highly recommend this book as a gift for any teen who has a loved one or family member declining from Alzheimer’s disease. My copy of the book is filled with highlights and notes on pages in which I choked back tears and gasped at the beauty of Wiersbitzky’s use of language and her comparisons of human life to the surrounding natural world.
Five stars to What a Flower Remembers. It is a book I’ll never forget.
Wiersbitzky artfully weaves this story of the emotional development of Delia by comparing human life with nature and flowers. Flowers are the sum of the genealogy of the seed from parent plants, just as Old Red is the sum of the memories from the small community in which he lived. Delia collects memories from Old Red’s family and friends and journals his life. She papers the walls of his room in his nursing home with these writings and pictures in hopes that Old Red won’t forget who he is, and that those who tend to his care come to know him for the capable man he was, rather than seeing him only as his disease. Through the process of honoring Old Red’s life, Delia comes to terms with his eventual death and in turn sees herself as a part of Old Red that lives on through the many memories she has of him.
I highly recommend this book as a gift for any teen who has a loved one or family member declining from Alzheimer’s disease. My copy of the book is filled with highlights and notes on pages in which I choked back tears and gasped at the beauty of Wiersbitzky’s use of language and her comparisons of human life to the surrounding natural world.
Five stars to What a Flower Remembers. It is a book I’ll never forget.
July 12, 2014
Goodreads First Reads Giveaway Book.
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What Flowers Remember is story about a young middle school girl experiencing the loss of a very close relative, both having a passionate love for gardening flowers. It was easy to read, allowing the characters to come alive on the pages.
Shannon Wiersbitzky is college educated in business. It was clear that she put much of her personal experience with Alzheimer into this story, as though Wiersbitzky was reliving her own painful memories in this story. She previously, in 2011, wrote The Summer of Hammers and Angels, an inspirational story about a young girl’s initally very bad summer in West Virginia, and the power of praying.
What Flowers Remember is full of raw emotion, portraying the grief one has when they lose a close relative. Keep some tissues nearby when you read it.
------------------------------------
What Flowers Remember is story about a young middle school girl experiencing the loss of a very close relative, both having a passionate love for gardening flowers. It was easy to read, allowing the characters to come alive on the pages.
Shannon Wiersbitzky is college educated in business. It was clear that she put much of her personal experience with Alzheimer into this story, as though Wiersbitzky was reliving her own painful memories in this story. She previously, in 2011, wrote The Summer of Hammers and Angels, an inspirational story about a young girl’s initally very bad summer in West Virginia, and the power of praying.
What Flowers Remember is full of raw emotion, portraying the grief one has when they lose a close relative. Keep some tissues nearby when you read it.
July 4, 2014
First off, I received this book for free through the Goodreads First Reads program. I'm so grateful for the chance to read such a wonderful book.
What Flowers Remember is a story told through the eyes of a middle school girl named Delia. She is friends with this old man commonly known as Old Red. They both share a love for gardening flowers.
Delia is pretty interesting for the short time that we know her. Since she is still pretty young, her naivety is believable and at times funny.
"I'm always the one sweating, even when everyone else is fine. Sometimes it's a wonder I don't melt." pg. 47
I teared up several times while reading this book. Is it crying once tears roll down your cheek? I have never been affected by Alzheimer's, nor has my family. However, this story tells a sad tale of the disease. I think this book was subtle with the way it told its story.
Absolutely recommend this book to people of all ages.
What Flowers Remember is a story told through the eyes of a middle school girl named Delia. She is friends with this old man commonly known as Old Red. They both share a love for gardening flowers.
Delia is pretty interesting for the short time that we know her. Since she is still pretty young, her naivety is believable and at times funny.
"I'm always the one sweating, even when everyone else is fine. Sometimes it's a wonder I don't melt." pg. 47
I teared up several times while reading this book. Is it crying once tears roll down your cheek? I have never been affected by Alzheimer's, nor has my family. However, this story tells a sad tale of the disease. I think this book was subtle with the way it told its story.
Absolutely recommend this book to people of all ages.
September 12, 2015
This moving story of Delia's coming of age against the back drop of Big Red's advancing Alzheimers is moving and real. I felt that I knew these people--I really don't want to call them characters. I would love to meet them since I already know them.
The organizational pattern of the novel--arranged as a monthly calendar with a reporting of what needs to happen in the garden--is excellent. The chapters are short, but tell their story well.
The text is spare but packs a punch. The old-fashioned turn-of-phrasing is evocative. Delia's voice is charming and real.
This is a gentle book exploring hard themes--loss, love, community. I highly recommend it.
(I-0, I-0, III-DM)
The organizational pattern of the novel--arranged as a monthly calendar with a reporting of what needs to happen in the garden--is excellent. The chapters are short, but tell their story well.
The text is spare but packs a punch. The old-fashioned turn-of-phrasing is evocative. Delia's voice is charming and real.
This is a gentle book exploring hard themes--loss, love, community. I highly recommend it.
(I-0, I-0, III-DM)
Read
February 27, 2016Having made friends with crochety neighbor, "Old Red," Delia goes into business with him, gathering and selling seeds from his flower garden. Old Red becomes less attached to reality as dementia sets in, leaving Delia confused, angry, sad, and desperate until she finds her own way to help. In some ways, she sets an example for the other adults in her life. This sequel to The Summer of Hammers and Angels revisits Tucker's Ferry, WV, and shows Delia growing up and learning more about the trials of life--and how to get through them.
June 7, 2016
I adored WHAT FLOWERS REMEMBER!
This book is a sequel to Wiersbitzky's SUMMER OF HAMMERS AND ANGELS, but the author pulled off a rare feat: I enjoyed the sequel even more than the first book.
Delia is growing up in Tucker's Ferry, West Virginia. She has adopted herself a grandfather, one who teaches her all about how to grow flowers, but when Old Red slowly develops Alzheimer's, Delia learns big lessons about living and dying.
WHAT FLOWERS REMEMBER passed my litmus test for a great book: it made me cry!
This book is a sequel to Wiersbitzky's SUMMER OF HAMMERS AND ANGELS, but the author pulled off a rare feat: I enjoyed the sequel even more than the first book.
Delia is growing up in Tucker's Ferry, West Virginia. She has adopted herself a grandfather, one who teaches her all about how to grow flowers, but when Old Red slowly develops Alzheimer's, Delia learns big lessons about living and dying.
WHAT FLOWERS REMEMBER passed my litmus test for a great book: it made me cry!
August 25, 2016
One day Old Red is training Delia as his flower apprentice, and the next he can hardly remember her. As heartbroken as Delia is when Old Red’s memory starts to slip, she turns her sadness into a town-wide effort to preserve Old Red’s best memories in a notebook, so he can pull one out at any time—to remember. This is a beautiful story of a girl on a mission to help her best pal regain the moments from his life that meant so much. Though a flower may wilt and die, its seeds have the power to live on.
April 29, 2015
Delia spends time with an elderly neighbor working in his garden. When she notices some personality changes, she is confused and hurt. This is a wonderfully sweet, compassionate, and well written look at Alzheimers and the impact it has on both the victim and the people who love him. Based on the author's own experiences, the theme is really about life, love, memory, and relationships. A lovely book.
May 9, 2014
Fans of Shannon Wiersbitzky's first book, Summer of Hammers and Angels, will enjoy this sequel that continues the story of Delia and her friends and neighbors in the small town of Tucker's Ferry, West Virginia. Each chapter is named for a month of one important year as Delia takes on a seed-and-plant business and wrestles with the fact that her mentor, talented gardener, Old Red, has problems. Soon he's diagnosed with Alzheimer's and goes downhill quickly.
Delia is an appealing character with a thoughtful and caring attitude. She's determined to help Red retain his memories by collecting all the stories that his friends and neighbors tell about him. Delia and nearly everyone in this town find comfort in attending church, praying, and supporting one another. Told first person by Delia who has an "old soul" and a way with words, this gentle, sweet story is filled with her sharp observations. She describes February as "small, dark, and prickly," talks about holding out her hands during a fireworks display as she tried to "catch a little bit of that color," and says the boy she likes "was thin and firm, like a good skipping rock."
Readers of all ages, especially those who are looking for a book to reinforce their faith, will appreciate Delia, her loving neighbors, and this small-town, timeless and nostalgic setting.
Delia is an appealing character with a thoughtful and caring attitude. She's determined to help Red retain his memories by collecting all the stories that his friends and neighbors tell about him. Delia and nearly everyone in this town find comfort in attending church, praying, and supporting one another. Told first person by Delia who has an "old soul" and a way with words, this gentle, sweet story is filled with her sharp observations. She describes February as "small, dark, and prickly," talks about holding out her hands during a fireworks display as she tried to "catch a little bit of that color," and says the boy she likes "was thin and firm, like a good skipping rock."
Readers of all ages, especially those who are looking for a book to reinforce their faith, will appreciate Delia, her loving neighbors, and this small-town, timeless and nostalgic setting.
May 6, 2017
This book will make you cry in the best possible way.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews