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Family Reminders
Product Code: 93206 ISBN: 978-1-58089-320-6 Ages: 8 - 11 Availability: In stock. Price: $14.95 Shop A Local Bookstore
Sometimes we all need a little reminder Ten-year-old Mary McHugh’s world is shattered when her father is injured in a mining accident in the late 1800’s. After losing his leg, Mary’s father falls into a deep depression. He no longer plays the piano or has interest in carving the intricate wooden “Reminders” that he has always made to remind the family of the milestones they shared together. To make matters worse, the family may need to leave their home in Cripple Creek, Colorado in order to make ends meet. Mary’s love for her father and her desire to get life back to “normal” push her to take a chance that restores her father’s spirit and brings her family a new life, strengthened by the hardships they have endured. This book is good for your brain because: Language Arts, Family and Relationships, Self-Esteem, Determination  A Note from the Author: Family Reminders takes place in the late 1890s in Cripple Creek, Colorado, one of the most famous mining towns in the West. In 1900, more than eighteen million dollars worth of gold was mined from the nearly five hundred mines in the area. The story of Mary McHugh is loosely based on the life of my grandmother, who spent part of her childhood in Cripple Creek. Her father--my great-grandfather--was a hard-rock miner who, like Daniel in the story, lost his leg in a mining accident. Although the mine where Daniel worked is fictional, my grandmother recalled the many mines that constantly belched smoke and emitted noisy blasts. Residents grew accustomed to the noise and every-present view of mines dotting the mountainside. Much of my description of the town is based on old photographs and research as well as on my own memories of Cripple Creek as a little girl with my grandmother. Bennett Avenue was and still is the town's main street, and my grandmother's school was located up a very steep hill a few blocks off of it. At the time of this story, a trolley had been built to carry workers up and down the valley to their jobs in the mines. Mr Brown and his store are fictional; however, in a bustling boomtown, stores like his did exist, provideing access to higher-end home items that wouldn't be found in a regular department store. You can visit Cripple Creek's official website at www.cripple-creek.co.us to read more about the town's mining history and see pictures of the town as it looks today. --Julie Danneberg Download the discussion and activity guide Download the cover image! If you like this book, you'll love these: Reviews Kirkus Reviews - June 1, 2009
Mary McHugh's placid life in the hard-rock gold-mining town of Cripple Creek, Colo., in the 1890s changes when her beloved father loses a leg in a mining accident. The once-lively man also loses heart, and Mary, whose spunk is undimmed by her confusion, tries to help the family recover by selling "family reminders," her father's well-executed wood carvings of memorable occasions and ordinary days in their lives. She and her mother also offer emotional strength, sometimes forcing him to escape from his depression. "[L]oosely based on the life of [the author's] grandmother" in Cripple Creek and on her great-grandfather, a hard-rock miner who lost his leg, the episodic story vividly describes the way family life changes when terrible events occur and how families can also recover given time, patience and love. Shelley's black-and-white cartoonish sketches don't add much to the strong text but neither do they diminish this warm family story with characters a reader might like to know.
School Library Journal - September 1, 2009
Mining for gold in 1890s Cripple Creek, CO, is dangerous, yet it’s the way of life for the frontier families who call it home. When 10-year-old Mary McHugh’s father loses his leg in a mining accident, their peaceful existence is destroyed. The once-jovial man becomes sullen and depressed when he can no longer support his family, and Mary’s mother grapples with trying to make ends meet while keeping her subservient role in the household. Mary’s dad has always carved wooden “Reminders” of the family and their special times, and these carvings bring both pain and comfort to the child. The story alternates between the present and past as Mary remembers happier times. She tries desperately to remind her family members of them as she schemes for a way for her father to support them again. Shelley’s India ink and pen illustrations add to the historical feel of this gentle, yet gripping story. This is a heartwarming novel about overcoming hardship, but it may need to be booktalked or read to children, who may not discover this little gem on their own.
The Horn Book Magazine - July 15, 2009
When Mary's cheerful, loving father loses a leg in an accident at the gold mine, he is despondent: no more jokes, rousing evenings at the patio, or artful whittling of the figurines he calls "Reminders" of the good times in their lives. Mary's strong, down-to-earth mother does her best, taking in other miners' laundry and refusing to give in to despair. But it's Mary who rescues the situation, proving to her father that he is not a "one-legged miner who carvers" but instead a "one-legged artist who used to mine." Although this slender book for younger readers is based on the life of the author's grandmother in 1890s Cripple Creek, Colorado, it doesn't lean too heavily on its historical fiction classification--we don't learn about the operation of a gold mine or follow every step in the late-nineteenth-century clothes-washing process. Young readers will instead identify with Mary's unhappiness at the changes in her father and her family, with her worries about money, and with her determination to help. (Because Mary's age is left unspecified, the novel would also make a good choice for reluctant older-elementary readers.) The cartoony illustrations and staid brown cover are a mis-match for the heartfelt text, but readers won't need them to see into Mary's world.
EconKids - August 1, 2009
During the late 1890s, Cripple Creek stood out as one of Colorado’s most well-known mining towns. Young Mary McHugh loved the mountain air, the beautiful scenery, the town’s hustle and bustle, her cheerful home life, and the feeling that her father worked close by in the mountain while she was at school. But everything changed the day her father lost a leg in a disastrous mining accident.Gone was the cheerful father who filled the house with his music, laughter, and whimsical wood carvings that the family fondly thought of as “reminders” of special moments. In his place was a despondent man who spent most his time sleeping and sitting silently at the kitchen table. No longer able to earn his miner’s wages, Mary’s father also despaired over his inability to financially support the family, and he had trouble accepting his wife’s decision to clean other people’s laundry in order to earn some badly-needed cash. The accident, however, did not rob Mary of her inherent optimism and her craving for good cheer in the house. Would her father be able to get past his misfortune to see the potential in her clever idea for turning the situation around? This work of historical fiction, based loosely on events in the lives of the author’s grandmother and great-grandfather, offers a portrait of the opportunities and risks of living and working in a mining town. The interesting story and expressive illustrations work well together to yield a compelling short novel that should appeal to a wide readership. A Patchwork of Books - September 15, 2009
Have a reader just starting out on chapter books? Want a nice, wholesome family read aloud? Family Reminders, written by Julie Danneberg, is a very simple book, short in length, but big on characterization. Some illustrations, done by John Shelley, accompany the text and allow for an easy transition for readers between picture books and easy readers, to a true chapter book.I really think this is a great transitional book for kids, both in format and in content. Mary is a sweet girl, a good child, and when her world comes crashing down it is obvious she is in pain, but the author has managed to exhibit those emotions, without traumatizing her young readers. Everything eventually ends up "happily ever after," which readers of this age group often still need. The cover, does not do the little book justice at all. Though I understand it's a book set in an "old fashioned" era and one of the main plot points features wood carvings by Mary's father, the cover did not need to be done in boring beige and brown. It has no life and I can't see a child picking this one up off the bookstore shelf when the book next to it is probably bold and bright. Other than that, very enjoyable! |
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