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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
Daralynn's mother grounds her, she isn't allowed to go on her father's private plane with her father, brother, and little sister. The plane crashes, and Daralynn is left alone with her mother. People send her hundreds of dolls, but she hates dolls. This is a gorgeously-written middle grade novel that teaches themes such as grief and independence.
And I love the cover.
And I love the cover.
Took me a bit of time to get into this one. BIG fan of Kate Klise and still love her writing, but the whole death thing... it seems to be a theme this year (also read Genifer Choldenko's death defying new book..) But did get into it and loved it!
While the book was okay, I loved the idea of the "living funeral". It sounds really cool, and I wish we did them.
Spoiler
I am just going to say, the author kind of wimped out by not having Mr. Clem killing of the people he was cremating. He totally was capable of that terrible crime. But I guess it is a kid's book.
Ages 8+
Along the lines of an Ida B/Each Little Bird that Sings etc middle grade girl read, with a touch of Richard Peckiness.
Along the lines of an Ida B/Each Little Bird that Sings etc middle grade girl read, with a touch of Richard Peckiness.
a quick but interesting read. i got this from a free book bin at a local used bookstore and was not disappointed in it.
Sometimes it pays to misbehave. Or does it? Daralynn is grounded the day her daddy goes up in his air-o-plane with her older brother and younger sister. Now after their deaths, she is still left behind with her motion-sick mother and the small community of Digginsville in the Missouri Ozarks (of the 1970s). As Daralynn sorts out the differences between Before the Crash (BC) and After the Deaths (AD), she learns what it means to be grounded in every aspect of the word.
Grounded, as a novel surrounding a significant loss, has a charm all its own. I say this and I am going to reference Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo in a minute. Kate Klise has drawn colorful characters that aren’t so outlandish as to be unrecognizable. It took a while for post-Vietnam and 70′s fashion to click in, and even still the story and its characters felt (and continue to feel) contemporary. Klise also brings to life the angry grieving widow, which is so beautifully convincing. But it is her first person protagonist that makes the story smile and tear-up.
I couldn’t help but think about DiCamillo’s India Opal Buloni when meeting Daralynn Oakland. She is a bit tom-boyish, too. And independent, inventive, and curious, and set adrift on her own. Except neither are really alone as the community comes to life about them in all its quirky wonder.
“Why did people think giving me dead dolls would make me feel better about my dead family? It didn’t make sense. All the strange things people did and said when other people died: None of it made sense.” (127).
Klise doesn’t try to make complete sense of why people respond to death the way they do. She does offer some contextual insight, enough to make responses seem more plausible (like the mother’s), but little more than that. The presence of another provides the anchor, not hard-won band-aid explanations. Kate Klise summarizes, “In my mind it’s always, always about the search for someone to keep us grounded in love.”*She creates a persuasive argument with Grounded.
Little makes sense, but that doesn’t stop Daralynn from wondering about why that is. And in some situations, when things don’t add up, they deserve a second or third look. Like the things that happen after the crematorium man comes to town. Daralynn (and the Reader) are rewarded for being observant, for questioning why things are the way they are.
Nothing feels more real than the weirdness of human behavior; which complicates the story considerably and creates mysteries that are natural in effect. Who is being true to themselves, and what happens when they are or are not? How do we survive our own grief, let alone someone else’s? Are the two even separable? and What will become of that disastrous haircut?
Klise writes a good story. Her voice is so smooth, so effortless. I thought to read a short bit before bed and had to force myself to set the book down. It isn’t a really long read, and all the ribbons slide into a quietly pretty little bow. Using a writerly narrator who is telling the story from some point in the future is used subtly (after the least subtle signal on page 37) and intentionally, allowing metaphors and early observations their continual relevance, and allowing for a very tidy, well-crafted story.
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recommendations: 9-13; boys and girls; those who like: humor, southern charm, (non-fantasy) Kate DiCamillo, wordplay, a bit of peril and mystery, who struggle with grief, who like non-message-y/non-therapy-driven books.
of note: I am rarely one to pitch a story for filming, but I would love to see this one adapted to screen.
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*Kate Klise posts “Grounded in Real Life” (Nov 2010) for Macmillan Children’s Publishing “MacKids” blog about the inspiration behind writing Grounded. do read it.
L @ omphaloskepsis
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/book-grounded/
Grounded, as a novel surrounding a significant loss, has a charm all its own. I say this and I am going to reference Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo in a minute. Kate Klise has drawn colorful characters that aren’t so outlandish as to be unrecognizable. It took a while for post-Vietnam and 70′s fashion to click in, and even still the story and its characters felt (and continue to feel) contemporary. Klise also brings to life the angry grieving widow, which is so beautifully convincing. But it is her first person protagonist that makes the story smile and tear-up.
I couldn’t help but think about DiCamillo’s India Opal Buloni when meeting Daralynn Oakland. She is a bit tom-boyish, too. And independent, inventive, and curious, and set adrift on her own. Except neither are really alone as the community comes to life about them in all its quirky wonder.
“Why did people think giving me dead dolls would make me feel better about my dead family? It didn’t make sense. All the strange things people did and said when other people died: None of it made sense.” (127).
Klise doesn’t try to make complete sense of why people respond to death the way they do. She does offer some contextual insight, enough to make responses seem more plausible (like the mother’s), but little more than that. The presence of another provides the anchor, not hard-won band-aid explanations. Kate Klise summarizes, “In my mind it’s always, always about the search for someone to keep us grounded in love.”*She creates a persuasive argument with Grounded.
Little makes sense, but that doesn’t stop Daralynn from wondering about why that is. And in some situations, when things don’t add up, they deserve a second or third look. Like the things that happen after the crematorium man comes to town. Daralynn (and the Reader) are rewarded for being observant, for questioning why things are the way they are.
Nothing feels more real than the weirdness of human behavior; which complicates the story considerably and creates mysteries that are natural in effect. Who is being true to themselves, and what happens when they are or are not? How do we survive our own grief, let alone someone else’s? Are the two even separable? and What will become of that disastrous haircut?
Klise writes a good story. Her voice is so smooth, so effortless. I thought to read a short bit before bed and had to force myself to set the book down. It isn’t a really long read, and all the ribbons slide into a quietly pretty little bow. Using a writerly narrator who is telling the story from some point in the future is used subtly (after the least subtle signal on page 37) and intentionally, allowing metaphors and early observations their continual relevance, and allowing for a very tidy, well-crafted story.
—————————————————————
recommendations: 9-13; boys and girls; those who like: humor, southern charm, (non-fantasy) Kate DiCamillo, wordplay, a bit of peril and mystery, who struggle with grief, who like non-message-y/non-therapy-driven books.
of note: I am rarely one to pitch a story for filming, but I would love to see this one adapted to screen.
——————————————————————–
*Kate Klise posts “Grounded in Real Life” (Nov 2010) for Macmillan Children’s Publishing “MacKids” blog about the inspiration behind writing Grounded. do read it.
L @ omphaloskepsis
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/book-grounded/
I enjoyed reading this, but it feels less like a book written for children than a book written for adults in a simple way with a child protagonist. It’s historical fiction, in some ways, with references that are neither explained nor presented in a way that would encourage kids to do further reading (particularly with regards to Waldo and Vietnam). There are a few pop culture references that nearly went over my 30-something-year-old head (Chrissy doll, Perry Mason), so I know my students won’t catch them.
I also dropped a star for a single line of unexamined anti-Semitism and anti-Islamic sentiment. I live in the Ozarks, and it’s irresponsible for an author who lives here to drop a line that reinforces ignorance, however brief and true to time and place. Authors writing for children should do better.
I also dropped a star for a single line of unexamined anti-Semitism and anti-Islamic sentiment. I live in the Ozarks, and it’s irresponsible for an author who lives here to drop a line that reinforces ignorance, however brief and true to time and place. Authors writing for children should do better.
"I'm alive today because I was grounded," narrates Daralynn, 12, whose father, brother, and sister have just died in a plane crash. She would have gone with them, but had to stay home as punishment for going fishing without telling her mother. True, she's still alive - but now she has to deal with the grief of losing most of her family. Well-meaning friends and neighbors try to do her a kindness by giving her dolls, which pile up until she has 237 and earns her the nickname "Dolly." Daralynn doesn't even like dolls, though, and finds that she has no outlet for her grief, especially since her mother doesn't express her emotions. She (Daralynn's mother) throws herself into her work - styling hair on cadavers at a funeral home, and operating her own hair salon (for living people). Her mother keeps her on a very short leash after the plane crash, so since she spends most of her time at the salon anyway, Daralynn starts her own haircutting business for the neighborhood kids. This is how the first summer after the plane crash passes - neither Daralynn nor her mother are happy, but they're existing. Then something happens that shakes up the whole town - Clem's Crematorium moves in, threatening to take business away from the funeral home. Daralynn has the idea for the funeral home to start having "living funerals" - celebrations of peoples' lives while they're still around to enjoy it - as way to stay ahead of the crematorium. But the owner, Clem, will do anything to make a buck, including swindling Daralynn's Aunt Josie out of her money and stealing the idea for living funerals. Daralynn knows that something is afoot with Clem, and starts investigating him. What she discovers is deeply disturbing, yet the whole ordeal helps to snap her mother out of her depression and helps both of them start to express the pain and sadness they've been keeping such a tight lid on. Daralynn is a great narrator - she's direct and honest and even manages to be funny amidst the tragic circumstances of her life. Overall, it's a great novel about loss and about how people who need each other can come together to form a family. The mystery with Clem is an added bonus - it adds a touch of excitement and drama that will keep readers turning the pages.
I love Kate Klise's writing style. It's very direct, and a little childish, but I still love it. This novel especially, because its a bit more serious than what I usually read from her. Dolly learned a lot of lessons.