Laura Amy Schlitz
The beauty of this novel is that it dares to go beyond the school-is-cruel and paranormal-dystopian-romance conventions and lets its adolescent heroine think on the page about what makes a human being whole: art, love, faith, education, family, friendship.
—The New York Times Book Review
I could not have summed this book up in a better way. The book is set in 1911, but the journey our heroine Joan takes is filled with struggle, adventure, and the huge questions we ask in life. My favorite quality of Joan is that she is a romantic; she is imaginative, emotional, and always trying to do good. And did I forget to mention that she loves to read?
After the death of her mother, Joan becomes the woman of her family's farm at fourteen years old. Her crude father takes her out of school to work for the men of the house, and all her dreams of an education and future are shattered. When she asks her father for some payment for her hard work, as her brothers are paid, he burns her only three books (gifts from her mother) in retaliation. This fire is the literal catalyst that makes her run away to Baltimore to become a hired girl, and make a living for herself.
In Baltimore she poses as eighteen years old to get a job, and the Rosenbach family takes her in. All throughout her employment, she has to maintain the lie that she is eighteen and act as a young woman of that time, causing her to grow up quickly. What makes the plot even more interesting, is that Joan is Catholic and the Rosenbachs are Jewish. The learning of all characters about different faiths is beautifully done, and causes the reader to understand how people believe in different religions, but can live together with respect and love. Joan is also encouraged in this family to read and learn, something she was never allowed to do before.
I do not want to give anything away, as I would love everyone to read this book. The ending is perfect and allows Joan to take back her childhood, and allow her the chance of any future she might dream of.
—The New York Times Book Review
I could not have summed this book up in a better way. The book is set in 1911, but the journey our heroine Joan takes is filled with struggle, adventure, and the huge questions we ask in life. My favorite quality of Joan is that she is a romantic; she is imaginative, emotional, and always trying to do good. And did I forget to mention that she loves to read?
After the death of her mother, Joan becomes the woman of her family's farm at fourteen years old. Her crude father takes her out of school to work for the men of the house, and all her dreams of an education and future are shattered. When she asks her father for some payment for her hard work, as her brothers are paid, he burns her only three books (gifts from her mother) in retaliation. This fire is the literal catalyst that makes her run away to Baltimore to become a hired girl, and make a living for herself.
In Baltimore she poses as eighteen years old to get a job, and the Rosenbach family takes her in. All throughout her employment, she has to maintain the lie that she is eighteen and act as a young woman of that time, causing her to grow up quickly. What makes the plot even more interesting, is that Joan is Catholic and the Rosenbachs are Jewish. The learning of all characters about different faiths is beautifully done, and causes the reader to understand how people believe in different religions, but can live together with respect and love. Joan is also encouraged in this family to read and learn, something she was never allowed to do before.
I do not want to give anything away, as I would love everyone to read this book. The ending is perfect and allows Joan to take back her childhood, and allow her the chance of any future she might dream of.