Saturday, November 20, 2010

"Leaving Gee's Bend"

Hey there, world. Sorry for not posting that much. But here is a new book review (for "big kids"!)

"Leaving Gee's Bend" by Irene Latham is inspired by a true story taking place in a rural "island" in Alabama... Gee's Bend.  The main character is ten year old  Ludelphia Bennett, who does a courageous thing, even though she's blind in one eye. Her mother comes down with pneumonia while delivering her baby daughter, and it seems like she'll never get well again. So Ludelphia decides to do all she can to help. Even if it means leaving Gee's Bend, crossing the river, going to Camden - which is forty miles away, sleeping in a barn, meeting Mrs. Cobb... the lady she was specifically warned not to run into, going to the doctor, writing a letter to the red cross, and secretly riding in a wagon. She learns that Gee's Bend is the place she loves most. This story is very sad. But it has that uplifting feel most melancholy books have.
It portrays the dialect of those living in the south during that time in what I think is a very realistic way (but I wouldn't know, I wasn't living then.) .
It is 230 pages, but has a larger print compared to some books. It has an Author's Note, where Irene Latham explains where the idea came from. It also has acknowledgements. I recommend this for anyone 8 and up, and although anyone can read it, I think of it more as a girl's book. I give this book (which was just published this year, by the way.) 5 stars!

Natalia

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