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A review by gwenby
A Girl from Yamhill by Beverly Cleary
5.0
This is the Beverly Cleary book for non-fans of her children’s literature. It is not really a children’s book. It’s a memoir spanning her life from young childhood until she escapes home for college. It’s also a nice period piece about the 1930s, touching on culture and vocabulary of the time. It left me wanting more, and I’m glad to learn there’s a sequel: My Own Two Feet. Can’t wait.
I remain a non-fan of Ms. Cleary’s children’s literature, but I am now a fan of her. She was a child, an adolescent, of her time. She was strong and true to herself, while living in the confines life had given her. She had a loving father and a good friend. And she was ever so funny!
I know she still lives at age 100+ in a nursing home in California. And I wonder about her children. I sense from minor research that she is basically gone. But having read this book I can say I would’ve liked to have known her, to have been her friend, and to have shared some of her “college preparatory class” with her, and perhaps even with her mother, all while sipping a Green River soda.
I remain a non-fan of Ms. Cleary’s children’s literature, but I am now a fan of her. She was a child, an adolescent, of her time. She was strong and true to herself, while living in the confines life had given her. She had a loving father and a good friend. And she was ever so funny!
I know she still lives at age 100+ in a nursing home in California. And I wonder about her children. I sense from minor research that she is basically gone. But having read this book I can say I would’ve liked to have known her, to have been her friend, and to have shared some of her “college preparatory class” with her, and perhaps even with her mother, all while sipping a Green River soda.