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corncobwebs 's review for:
Sarah, Plain and Tall
by Patricia MacLachlan
My main reaction to this book was - where's all the conflict? In other words, I thought that Caleb - and especially Anna - should have shown a lot more resistance to getting a new mother. I just don't think your average person would welcome a replacement mother so warmly. I mean, a child's relationship with his or her first known mother (she could be biological or not) is, like, super-strong and often complicated. I could understand Caleb's attitude a little better, since he didn't remember his biological mother at all; but Anna was a girl when their mother died, and still seemed fine with accepting a stand-in.[return:][return:]Then again, maybe my feelings on the matter are clouded by the fact that I could never accept a replacement mother. Other people may come from different circumstances and feel otherwise. Furthermore, maybe this book is less about the plausibility of children accepting a new mother, and more about the creation of a family. Maybe this book is about how people - blood related or not - can come together in all different kinds of ways to form a family. This is an idea that I feel very strongly about - that you can't choose your blood relations, but that you can choose whom you call your family.[return:][return:]And who wouldn't want Sarah to be a part of his or her family? She was a great character - sassy, honest, strong, artistic, spontaneous, giving. I had some misgivings about the fact that she was essentially a mail-order bride, but I admired the fact that she wouldn't let Jacob boss her around. The definitely made an unconventional pair, in that Sarah wouldn't be bossed around, and Jacob didn't really try to do so. I doubt that many 19th century male-female relationships followed that model. I think that, besides the implausibility of Caleb and Anna accepting Sarah so readily, the equity of Sarah and Jacob's relationship made the story less believable. Don't get me wrong - I loved the fact that Sarah was such a strong character - I just don't think that, in reality, she would have been allowed so much freedom.[return:][return:]On MacLachlan s writing: her style was definitely simple easy enough for a beginning reader but every now and then she would slip in a really well-crafted phrase or way of describing something. I loved when she described one of the sleeping dogs as a soft circle this is a simple enough description, but it s really evocative. There are similar examples throughout the book, and they really contributed to my overall enjoyment of it.[return:][return:]Overall, while I had some gripes with the plausibility of some aspects of the story, I really appreciated MacLachlan s message that families don t have to be blood-related strong bonds can exist between all kinds of people.