Jan 8, 2010 [description from goodreads]

A young girl sets out to save her sick mother and records her
adventures in quilt pieces.

Ludelphia Bennett may be blind in one eye, but she can still put in a good stitch. Ludelphia sews all the time, especially when things go wrong.

But when Mama goes into labor early and gets deathly ill, it seems like even quilting won’t help. That’s when Ludelphia decides to do something drastic—leave Gee’s Bend for the very first time. Mama needs medicine that can only be found miles away in Camden. But that doesn’t stop Ludelphia. She just puts one foot in front of the other. What ensues is a wonderful, riveting and sometimes dangerous adventure. Ludelphia weathers each challenge in a way that would make her mother proud, and ends up saving the day for her entire town.

Set in 1932 and inspired by the rich quilting history of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, Leaving Gee’s Bend is a delightful, satisfying story of a young girl facing a brave new world.

Review:

Leaving Gee's Bend reminds me of a book you would read for school, but not one of the school books that makes you want to kill your teacher for assigning it. It doesn't remind me of the school books that are unbelievably dull, slow, and/or awful, but still, according to the teacher, excellent because they are classic and full of rich symbolism and blah blah blah. No, this book is more Number the Stars or To Kill a Mockingbird - its symbolism is more subtle, it's educational without beating you over the head with facts, but most importantly, it's enjoyable.

Though the book does feel a bit slow in the beginning as Ludelphia doesn't leave Gee's Bend until a quarter of the way in to the book, the pace picks up as soon as she leaves. She is faced with a wide variety of challenges that keep things interesting. Some of the more major events are a bit predictable, but the road leading up is definitely not. Ludelphia meets all sorts of people who influence her decisions and views, and who also create plenty of conflict. There were a few plot lines involving certain people I would have liked to see more of, but I was more than satisfied with the many exciting twists and turns the people brought to Ludelphia's journey.*

I also *love* how the book feels and sounds l ike 1932, but it's not so 1932 that it's boring or overwhelming. Ludelphia sounds exactly like she is from the time period, but she also sounds exactly like a ten year old. She is mostly unaware of the Great Depression that is going on around her, but she still notes some of its effects. She is a bit mature for her age because of her responsibilities, but still gets extremely excited about new things. She wants to help out, even though some of her choices seem a bit silly or overly-ambitious. She's a wonderfully, realistically written ten year old, complete with an entertaining voice that makes her adventure much more fun to read about.

*I'm not sure if that sentence makes sense but go with it.

Links: Irene's website / blog / twitter

Book details: Putnam/Hardcover/$16.99


View original article at Frenetic Reader