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mjenae's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Mary Downing Hahn really is something else. It seems she and I see the world the same way, so I was definitely in harmony with this book. Gordy Smith's voice comes across loud and clear, and you can't help but root for him. His story is important, his character development full—and really, I don't think anyone could help but love that grandma of his.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Child abuse
Moderate: War
manwithanagenda's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Three cheers for Recycling! My town's recycling center has an area for books to be dropped off and this weekend there was a motherlode of goodies. Some of the boxes, to my surprise, were discarded volumes from my old elementary school library. I restricted myself to a few (or 11), but so far the most pleasant surprise has been rediscovering 'Following My Own Footsteps'. The fact that this is the very copy I held in my hands sometime in the 1997-98 school year is just icing on the cake.
I only picked up this book for the The DCF Award, which is the Vermont kid's choice award for juvenile and young adult books. Every year 20 or so books are nominated and kids across the state vote on their favorite. Additionally, the author gives an acceptance speech to a crowd of kids from across the state. The joy of living in such a small state allow for these kind of statewide functions to be accessible for a greater percentage of students then, say, Texas. My school chose its "delegates" by having a competetion where the four who read the most of the nominated books that year (or the first four to finish them all) got to take a day off from school and go on an exclusive field trip with the librarian.
As you can imagine, I was sold. So I read a whole lot of books that I otherwise wouldn't have looked twice at. I was a fan of Hahn, but any book that smacked of contemporary realism was avoided by me at the time (though I wouldn't have phrased it that way). This book sucked me in and made me pause despite the pressure I put on myself to finish these books as quickly as possible. I had no idea it was a sequel of sorts to 'Stepping on the Cracks' until this weekend, it stands very well on its own. Gordy Smith's mother has taken him and his siblings to her mother's house in North Carolina after his abusive drunk father was arrested.
This was the book that first made me really open my eyes to what growing up in an abusive home would be like. My childhood had been a happy one, and though I had problems and things going on inside my head that I had no way of comprehending or dealing with (ah, preadolescence) the idea of physical violence at home and the helplessness of those trapped in such situations was foreign to me. Screaming matches between my parents and my teenage sister and the rare punishment of "the belt" just don't compare. The threats that Gordy faced were real in a way that the supernatural doom scenarios of my usual reading couldn't match. The last third of this book, when Gordy's father comes back, with his mother's blessing, still disturbs me. It is so believable, and so tragic.
Hahn wrote so that you saw through Gordy's posturing and really sympathized with him. His anger and impulsiveness seem justfied in light of everything he and his family have been through. His friendship with the boy next door, in a wheelchair because of a polio, as an alliance of outcasts still comes off as natural. This book also has woke me up to the danger presented by a too-literal interpretation of 'Heidi'. The period details of 1945 are well done and don't overwhelm the story, they don't add much more than a backdrop to the story either, but the story doesn't need anything more. Gordy does get a happy ending but its at a very real cost. It's a sad fact that some people won't let themselves be saved.
Gordy Smith
Next: 'As Ever, Gordy'
Previous: 'Stepping On The Cracks'
I only picked up this book for the The DCF Award, which is the Vermont kid's choice award for juvenile and young adult books. Every year 20 or so books are nominated and kids across the state vote on their favorite. Additionally, the author gives an acceptance speech to a crowd of kids from across the state. The joy of living in such a small state allow for these kind of statewide functions to be accessible for a greater percentage of students then, say, Texas. My school chose its "delegates" by having a competetion where the four who read the most of the nominated books that year (or the first four to finish them all) got to take a day off from school and go on an exclusive field trip with the librarian.
As you can imagine, I was sold. So I read a whole lot of books that I otherwise wouldn't have looked twice at. I was a fan of Hahn, but any book that smacked of contemporary realism was avoided by me at the time (though I wouldn't have phrased it that way). This book sucked me in and made me pause despite the pressure I put on myself to finish these books as quickly as possible. I had no idea it was a sequel of sorts to 'Stepping on the Cracks' until this weekend, it stands very well on its own. Gordy Smith's mother has taken him and his siblings to her mother's house in North Carolina after his abusive drunk father was arrested.
This was the book that first made me really open my eyes to what growing up in an abusive home would be like. My childhood had been a happy one, and though I had problems and things going on inside my head that I had no way of comprehending or dealing with (ah, preadolescence) the idea of physical violence at home and the helplessness of those trapped in such situations was foreign to me. Screaming matches between my parents and my teenage sister and the rare punishment of "the belt" just don't compare. The threats that Gordy faced were real in a way that the supernatural doom scenarios of my usual reading couldn't match. The last third of this book, when Gordy's father comes back, with his mother's blessing, still disturbs me. It is so believable, and so tragic.
Hahn wrote so that you saw through Gordy's posturing and really sympathized with him. His anger and impulsiveness seem justfied in light of everything he and his family have been through. His friendship with the boy next door, in a wheelchair because of a polio, as an alliance of outcasts still comes off as natural. This book also has woke me up to the danger presented by a too-literal interpretation of 'Heidi'. The period details of 1945 are well done and don't overwhelm the story, they don't add much more than a backdrop to the story either, but the story doesn't need anything more. Gordy does get a happy ending but its at a very real cost. It's a sad fact that some people won't let themselves be saved.
Gordy Smith
Next: 'As Ever, Gordy'
Previous: 'Stepping On The Cracks'
literallykaren's review
4.0
This is the sequel to "Stepping on the Cracks." It follows the story of a minor character, Gordy, as he goes to live with his grandmother, finally escaping the physical abuse he has endured from his dad his whole life. What a fabbity book! This series may be Mary Downing Hahn's best.
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