Comments on: Novel about childhood in the American South

Question: Novel about childhood in the American South

lunasol — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:19:55 -0800

What was this young adult (or children's) novel I read about a girl growing up in Appalachia or the Ozarks? It might have actually been two different novels.

I would have read this book (or books) in the mid-80s to early-90s. I'm pretty sure it was all one book but it's possible it was two I'm conflating in my mind. What I remember:

- The main character was a young girl (maybe around 10-12), dirt poor, living in a small house in the Appalachians or the Ozarks.
- She's the only girl in her family (I think) and resents how much of the housework she has to help her mother with.
- There's one memorable scene where she's spent all day working hard and gets angry that her brothers get the first choice of meat at dinner, since she's the one who cooked it. She has an outburst and gets in trouble.
- Possibly as a result of this outburst, her parents decide she needs a break and send her to stay with city cousins, maybe in New Orleans or Atlanta. They are very glamorous to her. Her female cousin (aunt?) has never been awake early enough to see a sunrise, but has been told it looks like a fried egg.
- On her way to the big city, she shares a train with a group of soldiers headed off to war (WW2?)
- She and her classmates have to help with a cotton harvest (maybe because of the war) and get in trouble for jumping all over it (this is what makes me think I'm thinking of two different books, since AFAIK, there's never been a lot of cotton growing in the Ozarks or Appalachians).

I've tried just about every google search with these concepts and so far, nothing. Does anyone else remember reading this book or books?

By: leesh

leesh — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:24:29 -0800

Is this something by Lois Lenski? She had a whole series about children growing up in different parts of America. I definitely read Strawberry Girl and a couple others in elementary school and some of what you're saying sounds familiar.

By: dd42

dd42 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:25:18 -0800

Possibly Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry and its sequels (young girl in Mississippi, time in the city, beginning of WW2), but a lot of the details don't match.

By: jb

jb — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:31:15 -0800

It's not Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - that's the 30s, and about a black girl whose family are not rich, but not hungry, and she never goes to the city (her cousin from the city visits instead).

Sorry I can't be more help - I just keep thinking of books that it isn't.

By: lasamana

lasamana — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:35:55 -0800

Where the Lilies Bloom?

By: lunasol

lunasol — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:36:49 -0800

Definitely not Roll of Thunder, and I don't think it was Lois Lenski either.

By: whimsicalnymph

whimsicalnymph — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:42:44 -0800

Is it Ida Early Comes over the Mountain?

By: dawkins_7

dawkins_7 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:13:47 -0800

I definitely thought of Lois Lenski when I read this too.

By: coppermoss

coppermoss — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:33:11 -0800

You may be thinking of one or more of Roger Lea Macbride's Rose Wilder series, which details Laura Ingalls's daughter's childhood in the Ozarks.

By: brujita

brujita — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:39:38 -0800

I don't think it was one of the Rose books nor Where the Lilies Bloom. Rose was Laura and Almanzo's only living child and one of the plotlines of WtLB was that Mary Call didn't want her sister to marry the rich older neighbor.

I read all of Lois Lenski's America books and OP's plot description doesn't ring a bell for me wrt them.

By: charlemangy

charlemangy — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:14:39 -0800

Those first three bullet points sound reminiscent of the movie Winter's Bone, which was originally a book (and is a film worth checking out).

By: daisystomper

daisystomper — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 21:53:01 -0800

Okay, I was intrigued, did some research, and I think you might be looking for Ellen Foster.

By: lunasol

lunasol — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:34:06 -0800

Wow, a lot of these books look really good, but none of them are the one(s) I'm thinking of. Darn.

By: unsub

unsub — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:25:08 -0800

Might be Borrowed Children, by George Ella Lyon.

By: lunasol

lunasol — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:59:27 -0800

Yes, unsub, that's it! It's Borrowed Children! Thanks!!

By: lunasol

lunasol — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:00:18 -0800

I'll have to go read it now to see if it was all one book or not, but that definitely has significant aspects of what I remember, including the weird "fried egg sunset" thing.