One version of women's history, as it has been written into the tiny stitches of quilts. Bial (Portrait of a Farm Family, 1995, etc.) uses the practical craft of quilting as a piecemeal source to rediscover women's heritage, finding that the patterns and fabrics used in patchwork quilts often provide clues to their creators or surrounding circumstances. A friendship quilt, for instance, was signed by all the quilters and given as a remembrance. Pieced quilts made by pioneers, or by women during the Depression, emphasize the scarcity of fabric; they relied on dress scraps, flour sacks, and even tobacco premiums for cloth. African-American and Amish cultures are cited for their unique contributions to the tradition. There are full-color photographs of quilters and the various steps of their craft (explained briefly in the text), along with pictures as bright as stained glass of the quilts themselves. While some quotes are included, many of them hint at longer stories; readers will be awaiting anecdotes or recountings of family history that never come. Otherwise, this is a good companion both to how-to volumes and books on women's history. (bibliography, sources) (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-395-73568-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1996
This standout novella lustrously portrays Ana Rosa and the rich simplicity of her family’s daily life in the Dominican Republic. The linked vignettes and elegant prose vitalize the merengue music, colorful houses, as well as the people’s poverty and the tyranny of the government. Each chapter begins with one of Ana Rosa’s lovely rhythmic verses. A poet and writer at age 12, she steals bits of paper to record everything she sees, hears, and imagines. Ana Rosa’s family is very close by necessity, but it is her beloved brother Guario who has the job that supports them. As the novella proceeds, dark shadows begin to slink through the gentle days. We learn that Ana Rosa’s father drinks too much rum and Coke, especially on Sundays, when he becomes a lurching spectacle. Then an official informs the villagers that to build a hotel, the government has sold the land on which their families have lived for generations. The villagers band together, Ana Rosa writes an article, and her brother Guario becomes their passionate leader. But when the day of the standoff arrives, the villager’s words and rocks are nothing against the guardia’s guns and bulldozers. The heartbreaking result is Guario’s death. Without diluting the sorrow, Joseph (Fly, Bessie, Fly, 1998, etc.) illustrates the good arising from the tragedy as the government cancels the hotel project and Ana Rosa begins writing the life of her brother. This is an achingly beautiful story that will awaken profound emotions in the reader. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-028232-0
Page Count: 144
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2000
Donavan's friends collect buttons and marbles, but he collects words. ``NUTRITION,'' ``BALLYHOO,'' ``ABRACADABRA''—these and other words are safely stored on slips of paper in a jar. As it fills, Donavan sees a storage problem developing and, after soliciting advice from his teacher and family, solves it himself: Visiting his grandma at a senior citizens' apartment house, he settles a tenants' argument by pulling the word ``COMPROMISE'' from his jar and, feeling ``as if the sun had come out inside him,'' discovers the satisfaction of giving his words away. Appealingly detailed b&w illustrations depict Donavan and his grandma as African-Americans. This Baltimore librarian's first book is sure to whet readers' appetites for words, and may even start them on their own savory collections. (Fiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: June 30, 1994
ISBN: 0-06-020190-8
Page Count: 72
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1994
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