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hmcdade's review
5.0
I almost stopped reading The Warden's Daughter several times but very glad I kept reading. Cammie is has a lot emotions and takes it out on everyone in her life. Cammie finally figures out what to do with her emotions and why she is mad at everyone. Before she has figured this out is where I almost quit a few times--why? I have students that act like this and maybe myself when I was her age. (dealing with at school and reading on the way home) What kept me going--I believe Cammie could help some of my angry students move through some of the difficulties they face.
emmanovella's review against another edition
5.0
Jerry Spinelli is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. I read and adored Stargirl after seeing good reviews about it and then by chance when I was in Paris I went to Shakespeare and Co and was hunting for a book to buy and get stamped. I didn't want to spend too much money as the books were a tad more expensive and I found this for 11 euros and recognising the author decided to give it a go.
I adored this. I'm not normally one for historical fiction past WWII but this was outstanding and ughhh I loved it. Even though our main character is quite young for the majority of this book she is not infuriatingly immature like so many young characters can be. I thought this book was beautiful and emotional and I have no words. I'm so glad I read this book. Spinelli writes such incredible stories.
I adored this. I'm not normally one for historical fiction past WWII but this was outstanding and ughhh I loved it. Even though our main character is quite young for the majority of this book she is not infuriatingly immature like so many young characters can be. I thought this book was beautiful and emotional and I have no words. I'm so glad I read this book. Spinelli writes such incredible stories.
melissasbookshelf's review
4.0
Loved this latest story by Jerry Spinelli! The messages were so good. It shows that good can be found in everyone and that even those looked down on by society are capable of noble sacrifice. Set in the 1950's, Spinelli really captures the times where children played outside at all hours, American Bandstand was king, and girls who liked baseball were definitely tom boys.
Cammie is a twelve year old girl whose mother died saving her live as a baby. Her father happens to be the warden of a prison. Cammie is searching for a mother figure and finds it in the most unlikely of places among the female inmates of the prison. The story follows Cammie as she struggles with the pressures of becoming a teenager. Her best friend is obsessed with being on American Bandstand, and she questions whether her new found friends really like her or are only interested in her because of her access to prison inmates. It's a heartwarming story and I immediately fell in love with Cammie. I listened to the audiobook version of the book and loved the narrator. Highly recommend this book to middle grade readers and older. Anyone who loves a good historical fiction novel would enjoy this.
Cammie is a twelve year old girl whose mother died saving her live as a baby. Her father happens to be the warden of a prison. Cammie is searching for a mother figure and finds it in the most unlikely of places among the female inmates of the prison. The story follows Cammie as she struggles with the pressures of becoming a teenager. Her best friend is obsessed with being on American Bandstand, and she questions whether her new found friends really like her or are only interested in her because of her access to prison inmates. It's a heartwarming story and I immediately fell in love with Cammie. I listened to the audiobook version of the book and loved the narrator. Highly recommend this book to middle grade readers and older. Anyone who loves a good historical fiction novel would enjoy this.
annalisenak97's review against another edition
2.0
I was really not fond of this. I didn't connect with Cammie at all and disliked 80% of the characters. They all just seemed really nasty. A character doesn't have to be all nicey-nice, but their faults and dark places should make sense, and I just didn't see that. The story was engaging at times, but I think the standoffishness of Spinelli's characters in Stargirl was attempted here, and it just didn't work for me.
calypsogilstrap's review against another edition
3.0
Good but not Spinelli good. Goes well with Al Capone Does My Shirts but also a great story about a girl who grows up without a mother and must deal with the anger of being surrounded by girls. Cammie expects the women of the prison (where she lives with her father the warden) to become her replacement mother while she comes of age. The first person narrative along with a flashback and diary really bring the story together. Great anthropology piece of the late 1950's childhood in Philadelphia.
jennchandler's review against another edition
4.0
3.5. This was rather depressing through 90% of the book. I liked the ending, but it was a long time coming...
jennifermreads's review against another edition
3.0
Actual rating 3.5 stars
Cammie’s mother’s dying act was to push her daughter to safety before being struck by a car. Now, as she enters her teenage years, Cammie struggles to find a mother-figure to fill this desperate empty space in her life. Will the void be filled with the housekeeper-trustee Eloda who spends her days taking care of Cammie and the warden’s home and her nights in the cells below? Or will the buoyant prisoner Boo-Boo complete Cammie’s life and provide the mothering Cammie so longs for?
The story is told in a flashback format. The prologue gives us a present-day introduction to Cammie but it quickly flashes back to 1959, the summer that Cammie was twelve-going-on-thirteen. Cammie is in a tough spot: no mother, a busy father, impending teenage years (and thus emotions), a best friend that has developed (physically and emotionally) much faster than Cammie, and friends that Cammie suspects like her only because of her notoriety as the girl-who-lives-at-the-prison. She is a complicated character going through a variety of issues that many teen girls face. She is moody, she is struggling. She is identifiable, she is real.
I’m not sure what about this book made me move it from my email in-box to my very large TBR pile. But I’m glad I moved it to the top of the pile when it came into my library. Shockingly, this is the first Jerry Spinelli book I’ve read. I found Cammie a terrific character and I was intrigued with all that she went through in the course of the book. I appreciated the format as it was nice to get not only Cammie’s perspective of things as they happened, but also the insight into Eloda’s thinking with the satisfying epilogue showing Cammie today.
I found all the characters real. Some stereotypical? Well, yes. But that didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the story. This is a surefire reading suggestion for middle grade readers.
Cammie’s mother’s dying act was to push her daughter to safety before being struck by a car. Now, as she enters her teenage years, Cammie struggles to find a mother-figure to fill this desperate empty space in her life. Will the void be filled with the housekeeper-trustee Eloda who spends her days taking care of Cammie and the warden’s home and her nights in the cells below? Or will the buoyant prisoner Boo-Boo complete Cammie’s life and provide the mothering Cammie so longs for?
The story is told in a flashback format. The prologue gives us a present-day introduction to Cammie but it quickly flashes back to 1959, the summer that Cammie was twelve-going-on-thirteen. Cammie is in a tough spot: no mother, a busy father, impending teenage years (and thus emotions), a best friend that has developed (physically and emotionally) much faster than Cammie, and friends that Cammie suspects like her only because of her notoriety as the girl-who-lives-at-the-prison. She is a complicated character going through a variety of issues that many teen girls face. She is moody, she is struggling. She is identifiable, she is real.
I’m not sure what about this book made me move it from my email in-box to my very large TBR pile. But I’m glad I moved it to the top of the pile when it came into my library. Shockingly, this is the first Jerry Spinelli book I’ve read. I found Cammie a terrific character and I was intrigued with all that she went through in the course of the book. I appreciated the format as it was nice to get not only Cammie’s perspective of things as they happened, but also the insight into Eloda’s thinking with the satisfying epilogue showing Cammie today.
I found all the characters real. Some stereotypical? Well, yes. But that didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the story. This is a surefire reading suggestion for middle grade readers.