A review by shighley
Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm

4.0

In trying to read as many books as possible on the "best of 2011" lists, I decided to read this book before I read the sequel, The Trouble with May Amelia. I did enjoy it, and can't believe I hadn't read it before. One of the things I really liked was that May Amelia is definitely a child, and acts like a child. Sometimes it was very maddening, just like being a parent! I don't think I've read that many books set in the NW US (although The Grape Thief comes to mind, but I liked this much better). It did bother me several times that Holm didn't use quotation marks (I had to re-read to be sure who said what). I enjoyed the portrayal of the Indians/Native Americans. As with many good books, there things I would like to look up and learn more about, such as Astoria. Some things had a bit too much detail, some not enough (for my taste) and I felt like too many things happened too fast toward the end, but I really did enjoy it, and can see why it earned the Newbery Honor. This is yet another book that has interesting, inspiring roots that led to its being written, and I appreciated the accompanying photographs as well.