When We Married Gary

by Anna Grossnickle Hines

As seen through the eyes of a child, this positive story explores the issue of her mother's second marriage and presents the reactions and feelings she has toward the new, much-welcomed addition to her life and the changed family structure.

Genres: Picture Books

24 pages, Hardcover

Published March 21, 1996

Reviews

[Jabria · Rating 4 out of 5]

When We Married Gary is a biography inspired children's book, about Beth's mother getting re-married to a man named Gary. Beth still remembers her first Dad that went away, but her younger sister doesn't. This makes Beth sad sometimes, and she wonders about her Dad and why he isn't apart of the family. The use of the analogy of Beth, her mom, and her younger sister being a puzzle, and Gary fitting together perfectly in the puzzle helps her to answer her questions. This book relates to my topic because it is about the remaking of a family.

I think that the overall story was interesting to children and is age appropriate for children up to the second grade. In my opinion it is something that just about everyone who has ever experienced a parent remarrying can relate to. It gives children something to think about as well, such as why Beth's father left in the first place, and what makes Gary a perfect fit for Beth, her mom, and her younger sister. I believe that it utilizes style and language that are appropriate for children up to a second grade reading level, and have some realistic and convincing characters.

I think that the illustrations are accurate in terms of setting, plot, and characters, and also corresponds to the text. I believe that they hole the children's interest while the text is read and also enhance and add to the story by showing how lose the characters are to one another, and showing their emotions toward each other. This is my opinion makes the book more relatable.

As far as the story's cultural aspects I think that since the story is based off of the author's real life experiences I don't think that there are any negative stereotypes of the represented group, and that they lifestyles of the characters are genuine. The author was able to pull true and genuine information from her own life experiences to enhance the book, and make it relatable and easier to connect to. The author was also able to make the characters use speech that accurately represent their culture and oral tradition.

[Britteny Gilge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be a good book for adults to use to teach about second marriages. This story begins with the pictures of the family before they met Gary. They were happy, but something was missing. Their father was not ready to be a part of the family and so he was absent in their lives. One day Gary comes over to have dinner with the family, he helps out, and dances in the kitchen with their mother just like they do. They show the two girls and the mother getting married together and this does a good job at displaying that a marriage isn’t just a connection between their parent and the person they are getting married to, but rather a bond between all of them accepting the other person into their life to become one big happy family. The story shows that Gary gets impatient with them just like their mother does, but he is also silly like them. My favorite line from this book is a metaphor that the author uses, “…it’s kind of like we’re a puzzle- Mama, Beth, and me. Our daddy didn’t fit with us, but Gary does”.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a great book to read to students when introducing adoption or gaining a new stepmom or dad.New additions to any family can be hard for younger children to deal with so this would be a great book to read to your students.