An orphan grapples with her unpleasant aunt and the even more unpleasant idea of moving to Boston in this poignant middle-grade debut that handles loss and renewal.
Donut is an eleven-year old geography buff who keeps her taxidermied mice hidden in her late mother’s hope chest. Her pops passed away, leaving her an orphan. Aunt Agnes has moved in, bringing along her lumpy oatmeal, knitting, and a plan to drag Donut off to Boston forever.
Donut stands to lose everything: her friends, her village, her home, the woods, and walks where the memories of her pops are stored up.
While Donut dodges the ache of missing her pops, she and her best friend Tiny plan how to keep her where she belongs.
A Stitch in Time by Daphne Kalmar is shot through with gorgeous, evocative language, and gets right to Donut’s heart.--from the publisher
176 pages 978-1250154989 Ages 8-12
********** Donut (born Dorothy) lives in a small village in the early part of the twentieth century. Her mother died when she was born, and her father was recently killed in a car accident. Her Aunt Agnes from Boston has come to stay, but wants to take her back to the city because both she and Donut's Aunt Jo work in a girls' school, and they want Donut to benefit from a good education. Donut doesn't want to leave Sam, a neighbor who has taught her taxidermy, or her friend Tiny. Even though Sam agrees to let her stay, her aunts still want her to come with them, so Donut decides to run away. She's fairly well prepared, and sets up shop in a cabin belonging to a man who played cards with her father. Tiny and Sam know where she is, but she spends several days on her own. She investigates the boat her father left behind, befriends some animals, and realizes that she doesn't love her new Atlas as much without the encyclopedia to use to look up the places in it. When an accident ruins her lodgings and injures her, Donut must come home and formulate a plan for going forward.
Strengths: This was sort of a backwards Understood Betsy, which I loved. Orphans having to live with random relatives were something I adored when I was young, especially in historical settings. It must have been a trend, because there were a lot of books like that. Donut's interest in taxidermy is interesting, and the tiny bits of women's rights well done and appropriate to the time period. Aunt Agnes was very understanding and kind, although it was understandable that Donut was angry about leaving her home. The adventure was good, and the supportive community heart warming. All in all, this read like an early twentieth century novel without having wildly creepy undertones like Rebecca of Sunny Brook Farm or Daddy Long-Legs do.
Weaknesses: Historical orphans are not quite as popular as they were 100 years ago, and the taxidermy descriptions that start the book were a tiny bit stomach churning.
What I really think: Debating. I'd love to be able to hand this to children, but I just don't have a lot of readers who are interested in this sort of book. I do have one or two this year; if I have more next year, I will certainly consider purchasing.
Recommended by: Karen Yingling, Library Media Specialist, Ohio USA
See more of her recommendations: msyinglingreads.blogspot.com
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Recommendations:
"Heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time, Donut’s story is gritty, hopeful and ultimately all about the various ways that love shows up. I loved it.”--Kathi Appelt, author of the Newbery Honor and National Book Award finalist novel The Underneath
"Taxidermy? What better journey to uncover the true stuff of character! A classic, indelible debut."--Rita Williams-Garcia, author of the Newbery Honor novel One Crazy Summer
