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jojo_bookish_mojo's review
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
savvyshannon's review
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
bookslovejenna's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Marley’s father has returned home at the end of WWII having spent time in a POW camp. The family is desperate to get their father and husband back. He’s obviously suffering from PTSD but that terminology isn’t in existence at that time, or at the time of the writing of this book. They head to the country, just for a time, that keeps extending, as they all grow stronger and kinder, inclusive, and supportive of each other,
5/5⭐️s
Five things about Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorenson.
1. First published in 1956, this book both pushes and challenges traditional gender roles. It explores whether boys can be emotional, girls can be solo explorers of their world, who should be in the kitchen and who should be out working in the world. At times, the traditional roles are so dominate as to make a modern reader cringe yet, ultimately- everyone helps where they can, expresses their emotion as they choose, and is accepted for themselves. A decidedly progressive viewpoint.
2. At the heart of this story is what war does to a person. It’s only overtly discussed twice but ideas like “us/them”, “offense/defense”, enemy invasion (in the form of mice and then foxes and then Marley & her brother Joe invading a solitary “hermit’s” home” all meet with varying responses one might find in moments of warlike conflict. The mice are killed, the foxes warned off, the children welcomed like old friends rather than invaders. I’m not doing it justice here but it’s remarkably done in the book.
3. I love how this book teaches the reader so much about the seasons, plants, berries, and animals. It’s something so prevalent in children’s books from this era that I don’t think we do so well at now.
4. This book is so wholesome and warm-hearted without ever becoming preachy or even unbelievable. The parents get grumpy. The siblings fight. There’s plenty to worry over. And also - there’s such sincere love and community.
5. This was my first time reading (or even hearing of) this book and I honestly believe I’m walking away better for having read it. Marly, Joe, Mr Chris, the dad, the totally snobbish mother, Harry, Annie-Get-Your-Gun...they are all going to be with me for awhile.
5/5⭐️s
Five things about Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorenson.
1. First published in 1956, this book both pushes and challenges traditional gender roles. It explores whether boys can be emotional, girls can be solo explorers of their world, who should be in the kitchen and who should be out working in the world. At times, the traditional roles are so dominate as to make a modern reader cringe yet, ultimately- everyone helps where they can, expresses their emotion as they choose, and is accepted for themselves. A decidedly progressive viewpoint.
2. At the heart of this story is what war does to a person. It’s only overtly discussed twice but ideas like “us/them”, “offense/defense”, enemy invasion (in the form of mice and then foxes and then Marley & her brother Joe invading a solitary “hermit’s” home” all meet with varying responses one might find in moments of warlike conflict. The mice are killed, the foxes warned off, the children welcomed like old friends rather than invaders. I’m not doing it justice here but it’s remarkably done in the book.
3. I love how this book teaches the reader so much about the seasons, plants, berries, and animals. It’s something so prevalent in children’s books from this era that I don’t think we do so well at now.
4. This book is so wholesome and warm-hearted without ever becoming preachy or even unbelievable. The parents get grumpy. The siblings fight. There’s plenty to worry over. And also - there’s such sincere love and community.
5. This was my first time reading (or even hearing of) this book and I honestly believe I’m walking away better for having read it. Marly, Joe, Mr Chris, the dad, the totally snobbish mother, Harry, Annie-Get-Your-Gun...they are all going to be with me for awhile.
margardenlady's review against another edition
4.0
Charming story about the miracles of nature. Friends who become family figure prominently in this story of a year in the life of a family trying to find its way.
mnreece's review against another edition
2.0
Sweet little book in the same realm of Caddie Woodlawn and Little House on the Prairie but in Pennsylvania in the 1950s.
triscuit807's review against another edition
3.0
3-3.5 stars. This is a story for atmosphere but not plot. The family journeys from Pittsburgh to someplace in rural PA that's a bit hilly where they occupy a farmhouse that the mother visited regularly as a child. The reason for the trip is to get the father someplace quiet to help him recover from being in a WWII POW camp. Kudos to the author for a story that includes the idea that a person might need to recover from war. Marly is 10 and is the main protagonist; she is possibly the whiniest person ever to occupy a kid's novel. She is the least tomboyish tomboy in history and the bit with the cows made me want to shut her in a pasture with them. Her brother is annoying too. The neighboring Chris couple and the hermit are the good bits in the book as are the descriptions of the various flowers and plants (that alone makes it a keeper). It's a look back at time when things are changing from simple to modern. In an earlier time, Marly's role would have been less distinct from her brother's (because she'd have been expected to do more, e.g. the girls in "Winterbound" from the 1930s), but here in the post WWII 1950s sex roles are being pushed,i.e. Marly needs to be girly and fearful when she explores. I read this for my 2020 Reading Challenge (Mrs. Darcy "published the decade you were born" - 1950s) and my Newbery Challenge (Medal 1957).
everydayreading's review against another edition
3.0
I really loved some parts of this book, but the bickering between Marley and Joe irritated me to no end. I got really sick of Joe's "You're a girl and thus can't do this" attitude, and I quickly tired of Marley's inability to keep her mouth shut. Wow, that sounds like I hated the book - I really didn't.
mrskatiefitz's review against another edition
4.0
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
Miracles on Maple Hill was published in 1956, and it was the winner of the 1957 Newbery Medal. As the book opens, Marly and her family are headed to Maple Hill, a rural area of Pennsylvania where Marly’s mother spent her childhood summers. Though at first it appears to be a happy family vacation, the truth is that Marly’s father is suffering the psychological effects of the time he spent as a prisoner of war. At home in the city, he is angry and irritable, jumping at every little thing and sometimes even mistreating his children. The family is coming to Maple Hill in the hopes that the country lifestyle will help Marly’s dad start to heal. Over the next year, Marly gets to know wonderful people - Mr. and Mrs. Chris, Harry the Hermit, and Margie - and she experiences all the miracles Maple Hill can offer, from maple syrup and wildflowers to the slow recovery of her father’s mental strength.
In contemporary children’s books, there is a tendency to dwell more heavily on the darker side of life. Nowadays, for better or for worse, we trust kids to deal with the harsh truths of life - abuse, poverty, divorce, death - and many books describe these situations in detail, evoking empathy from readers and encouraging them to feel all the associated emotions, good and bad. This book handles the pain of Marly’s dad’s experiences in a more detached way, which I think is an interesting and effective approach.
Marly is about ten years old, and what we know of her dad’s condition is filtered through her point of view. It seems likely, given the personality of her mother, that Marly would be protected as much as possible from the darkness of her father’s experiences. Because of this, the reader is really only shown those few frightening moments of anger that Marly has actually witnessed. Throughout the book, both Marly and her brother react to their father nervously, with lots of concern over how he will respond to them, but the reader isn’t subjected to the experiences that made them feel that way. I can only assume this was a conscious decision on the part of the author, and my guess is that it was a decision made to protect young readers. Though some kids do certainly like to read the gory details, or maybe even need to read them to feel validated, other kids are more sheltered, like I was, and this book strikes a great compromise between perfect happiness and interesting storytelling.
The other remarkable thing about this book is its descriptions of country living. I borrowed this book from my urban library system, where kids don’t often run into wildflowers, wild mushrooms, or sap from maple trees. If they read this book, though, they will feel as though they have spent a year on Maple Hill right alongside Marly. The descriptions of everything Marly sees, feels, and tastes during her year of visits to Maple Hill are beautiful, and the author uses just the right details to transport the reader through the beauty of the different seasons. She ties all of this wonderful information about the natural world in with Marly’s relationship with her brother, Joe, and both kids’ relationships to their Maple Hill neighbors, and it is the combination of character and setting that drives the story forward.
This is very much of a book of the 1950s. There are lots of references to very rigidly defined gender roles, where Joe is permitted many freedoms, but Marly must stick close to home, and where it is surprising when Marly’s father learns to cook, or when her mother drives the family car. At one point, Marly’s mother actually apologizes to Marly’s teacher because Marly is more of a tomboy than the other girls at her one-room schoolhouse. These references are among the few moments in the story that make it seem more historical than contemporary. There are also a lot of references to Marly’s father’s time in World War II, which could date the book, but given that our country is also at war today, it is possible that contemporary kids could have a parent in a similar situation to Marly’s father and find some hope and meaning in his recovery.
I really enjoyed this book, though it’s probably best enjoyed when we think of it as “old” realistic fiction rather than historical fiction. The story reflects the values of the time, but they have not been filtered through contemporary thinking. Two very recent novels about similar subjects that might draw interesting comparisons are The Second Life of Abigail Walker by Frances O’Roark Dowell and The Bell Bandit by Jacqueline Davies.
Miracles on Maple Hill was published in 1956, and it was the winner of the 1957 Newbery Medal. As the book opens, Marly and her family are headed to Maple Hill, a rural area of Pennsylvania where Marly’s mother spent her childhood summers. Though at first it appears to be a happy family vacation, the truth is that Marly’s father is suffering the psychological effects of the time he spent as a prisoner of war. At home in the city, he is angry and irritable, jumping at every little thing and sometimes even mistreating his children. The family is coming to Maple Hill in the hopes that the country lifestyle will help Marly’s dad start to heal. Over the next year, Marly gets to know wonderful people - Mr. and Mrs. Chris, Harry the Hermit, and Margie - and she experiences all the miracles Maple Hill can offer, from maple syrup and wildflowers to the slow recovery of her father’s mental strength.
In contemporary children’s books, there is a tendency to dwell more heavily on the darker side of life. Nowadays, for better or for worse, we trust kids to deal with the harsh truths of life - abuse, poverty, divorce, death - and many books describe these situations in detail, evoking empathy from readers and encouraging them to feel all the associated emotions, good and bad. This book handles the pain of Marly’s dad’s experiences in a more detached way, which I think is an interesting and effective approach.
Marly is about ten years old, and what we know of her dad’s condition is filtered through her point of view. It seems likely, given the personality of her mother, that Marly would be protected as much as possible from the darkness of her father’s experiences. Because of this, the reader is really only shown those few frightening moments of anger that Marly has actually witnessed. Throughout the book, both Marly and her brother react to their father nervously, with lots of concern over how he will respond to them, but the reader isn’t subjected to the experiences that made them feel that way. I can only assume this was a conscious decision on the part of the author, and my guess is that it was a decision made to protect young readers. Though some kids do certainly like to read the gory details, or maybe even need to read them to feel validated, other kids are more sheltered, like I was, and this book strikes a great compromise between perfect happiness and interesting storytelling.
The other remarkable thing about this book is its descriptions of country living. I borrowed this book from my urban library system, where kids don’t often run into wildflowers, wild mushrooms, or sap from maple trees. If they read this book, though, they will feel as though they have spent a year on Maple Hill right alongside Marly. The descriptions of everything Marly sees, feels, and tastes during her year of visits to Maple Hill are beautiful, and the author uses just the right details to transport the reader through the beauty of the different seasons. She ties all of this wonderful information about the natural world in with Marly’s relationship with her brother, Joe, and both kids’ relationships to their Maple Hill neighbors, and it is the combination of character and setting that drives the story forward.
This is very much of a book of the 1950s. There are lots of references to very rigidly defined gender roles, where Joe is permitted many freedoms, but Marly must stick close to home, and where it is surprising when Marly’s father learns to cook, or when her mother drives the family car. At one point, Marly’s mother actually apologizes to Marly’s teacher because Marly is more of a tomboy than the other girls at her one-room schoolhouse. These references are among the few moments in the story that make it seem more historical than contemporary. There are also a lot of references to Marly’s father’s time in World War II, which could date the book, but given that our country is also at war today, it is possible that contemporary kids could have a parent in a similar situation to Marly’s father and find some hope and meaning in his recovery.
I really enjoyed this book, though it’s probably best enjoyed when we think of it as “old” realistic fiction rather than historical fiction. The story reflects the values of the time, but they have not been filtered through contemporary thinking. Two very recent novels about similar subjects that might draw interesting comparisons are The Second Life of Abigail Walker by Frances O’Roark Dowell and The Bell Bandit by Jacqueline Davies.
charity1313's review against another edition
4.0
A re-read, but the last time I read it I was a child. I only remembered that I loved it and I loved learning about how maple syrup was made. It is always a great read for winter, though the book spans the full year it begins and ends with snow. And it's an excellent exploration of nature. I didn't remember the whole plot hinging on the father's mental health but it's an interesting point for me as an adult. And since that time we have scientific evidence that backs up nature and farming as a valid and helpful treatment for PTSD.