Summer Song

by Susan Rowan Masters

Overview

Etta May struggles to face her grandfather's inevitable death and to overcome her hostility toward the mother who abandoned her when she was a baby.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780595144075
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	10/01/2000
Pages:	148
Product dimensions:	5.53(w) x 8.51(h) x 0.39(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

Editorial Reviews

Etta May, a self-proclaimed magnet for disaster, carries more than her share of burdens. Soon after the death of her beloved grandmother, her grandfather Gent grows too weak from emphysema to tend his cherished roses or take care of the run-down trailer where he and Etta May live. When Etta May realizes that Gent's disease is terminal, she resolves to carry out his last wish: to let him die in his own bed. She wages a lonely battle against doctors and, even more painfully, the absentee mother she has hitherto seen ``all of nine times.'' In the tradition of Where the Lilies Bloom and A Day No Pigs Would Die, this story about love and compromise traces the struggles of a determined child taking on adult responsibilities. Scenes depicting the clash of wills among three generations are balanced with portrayals of familial tenderness and compassion. Masters's quick dialogue adds color, while her poignant narrative evokes the frustration, fear and final acceptance experienced in the face of a deep loss. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 5-7-Etta May has lived with her grandparents in a trailer park her whole life. She has only seen her mother, who lives and works in the city nearby, a few times. But after the girl's grandmother dies, her grandfather Gent's health deteriorates and suddenly her mother is back in her life. Now the child must cope with the elderly man's illness and with her conflicting feelings about her mother's return. In addition to looking after Gent, she's in the midst of encouraging her best friend, the shy Quentin, to try out for a musical talent show. Readers will admire Etta May's resilience and independence, and sympathize with her confusion and longings. Her close relationship with her grandfather is sensitively portrayed and adds depth to the story. Although the writing is occasionally flat and the other trailer park characters sometimes seem like caricatures, this is an accessible story with a likable heroine dealing with a host of difficult subjects.-Cyrisse Jaffee, formerly at Newton Public Schools, MA

School Library Journal