"What do you do after school? Most of you go home, relax, perhaps play on the computer, your iPad, your iPod, iPhone, do some homework, and wait for mom or dad to fix dinner. Well in George Ella Lyon's Borrowed Children, Amanda Perritt, let's call her Mandy lives in a very different world, she does live in Kentucky but that may be one of the only similarities you will see when you compare her life to yours. Mandy lives in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Kentucky in a time known as the Great Depression. This was a time in 1929 through the 30's where people were poor due to the stock market crash. By poor, I mean flat broke, people out of work, were losing their homes, were forced to go barefoot, and starving to death, literally. But for Mandy, her everyday life wasn't just about facing the fact that her family was poor, after her mother was stricken with illness, Mandy had to become a mother to her newborn brother, do the house chores, and prepare the food to put on the table. She did this without electricity and running water, how is that possible!? This was her life, as a 12 year old, no mother to look after her, it was time to grow up quickly and take care of the family. With her busy life as an adult, there was no time for education, she could no longer attend the school in which she loved. With all the pressure, a person could go mad without a break so around the holidays she was allowed to take a trip to Memphis Tennessee to stay with her Grandmother and Aunt. It wasn't the vacation she had in mind but she learned about life and family, and she came to appreciate her home. This coming of age historical fiction chapter book will surely have your heart wrenching for Mandy. Monday, December 10, 2012
Borrowed Children
"What do you do after school? Most of you go home, relax, perhaps play on the computer, your iPad, your iPod, iPhone, do some homework, and wait for mom or dad to fix dinner. Well in George Ella Lyon's Borrowed Children, Amanda Perritt, let's call her Mandy lives in a very different world, she does live in Kentucky but that may be one of the only similarities you will see when you compare her life to yours. Mandy lives in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Kentucky in a time known as the Great Depression. This was a time in 1929 through the 30's where people were poor due to the stock market crash. By poor, I mean flat broke, people out of work, were losing their homes, were forced to go barefoot, and starving to death, literally. But for Mandy, her everyday life wasn't just about facing the fact that her family was poor, after her mother was stricken with illness, Mandy had to become a mother to her newborn brother, do the house chores, and prepare the food to put on the table. She did this without electricity and running water, how is that possible!? This was her life, as a 12 year old, no mother to look after her, it was time to grow up quickly and take care of the family. With her busy life as an adult, there was no time for education, she could no longer attend the school in which she loved. With all the pressure, a person could go mad without a break so around the holidays she was allowed to take a trip to Memphis Tennessee to stay with her Grandmother and Aunt. It wasn't the vacation she had in mind but she learned about life and family, and she came to appreciate her home. This coming of age historical fiction chapter book will surely have your heart wrenching for Mandy. 
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