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American Regional
Strawberry Girl
The land was theirs, but so were its hardships
Strawberries -- big, ripe, and juicy. Ten-year-old Birdie Boyer can hardly wait to start picking them. But her family has just moved to the Florida backwoods, and they haven′t even begun their planting. "Don′t count your biddies ′fore they′re hatched, gal young un!" her father tells her.
Making the new farm prosper is not easy. There is heat to suffer through, and droughts, and cold snaps. And, perhaps most worrisome of all for the Boyers, there are rowdy neighbors, just itching to start a feud.
Strawberries -- big, ripe, and juicy. Ten-year-old Birdie Boyer can hardly wait to start picking them. But her family has just moved to the Florida backwoods, and they haven′t even begun their planting. "Don′t count your biddies ′fore they′re hatched, gal young un!" her father tells her.
Making the new farm prosper is not easy. There is heat to suffer through, and droughts, and cold snaps. And, perhaps most worrisome of all for the Boyers, there are rowdy neighbors, just itching to start a feud.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1945
About the author
Lois Lenski
235 books181 followershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Lenski
Many of Lenski's books can be collated into 'series' - but since they don't have to be read in order, you may be better off just looking for more information here: http://library.illinoisstate.edu/uniq...
Probably her most famous set is the following:
American Regional Series
Beginning with Bayou Suzette in 1943, Lois Lenski began writing a series of books which would become known as her "regional series." In the early 1940s Lenski, who suffered from periodic bouts of ill-health, was told by her doctor that she needed to spend the winter months in a warmer climate than her Connecticut home. As a result, Lenski and her husband Arthur Covey traveled south each fall. Lenski wrote in her autobiography, "On my trips south I saw the real America for the first time. I saw and learned what the word region meant as I witnessed firsthand different ways of life unlike my own. What interested me most was the way children were living" (183).
In Journey Into Childhood, Lenski wrote that she was struck by the fact that there were "plenty of books that tell how children live in Alaska, Holland, China, and Mexico, but no books at all telling about the many ways children live here in the United States"
Bayou Suzette.
Strawberry Girl.
Blue Ridge Billy.
Judy's Journey.
Boom Town Boy.
Cotton in My Sack.
Texas Tomboy.
Prairie School.
Corn-Farm Boy.
San Francisco Boy.
Flood Friday.
Houseboat Girl.
Coal Camp Girl.
Shoo-Fly Girl.
To Be a Logger.
Deer Valley Girl.
Many of Lenski's books can be collated into 'series' - but since they don't have to be read in order, you may be better off just looking for more information here: http://library.illinoisstate.edu/uniq...
Probably her most famous set is the following:
American Regional Series
Beginning with Bayou Suzette in 1943, Lois Lenski began writing a series of books which would become known as her "regional series." In the early 1940s Lenski, who suffered from periodic bouts of ill-health, was told by her doctor that she needed to spend the winter months in a warmer climate than her Connecticut home. As a result, Lenski and her husband Arthur Covey traveled south each fall. Lenski wrote in her autobiography, "On my trips south I saw the real America for the first time. I saw and learned what the word region meant as I witnessed firsthand different ways of life unlike my own. What interested me most was the way children were living" (183).
In Journey Into Childhood, Lenski wrote that she was struck by the fact that there were "plenty of books that tell how children live in Alaska, Holland, China, and Mexico, but no books at all telling about the many ways children live here in the United States"
Bayou Suzette.
Strawberry Girl.
Blue Ridge Billy.
Judy's Journey.
Boom Town Boy.
Cotton in My Sack.
Texas Tomboy.
Prairie School.
Corn-Farm Boy.
San Francisco Boy.
Flood Friday.
Houseboat Girl.
Coal Camp Girl.
Shoo-Fly Girl.
To Be a Logger.
Deer Valley Girl.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 725 reviews
October 16, 2013
Strawberry Girl was the first novel I read by children’s book author and illustrator Lois Lenski (October 14, 1893 – September 11, 1974). I read the book in the fifth grade in secret, because with its pink cover, not to mention title, was girly. At the time, I was in the process of reading books that had the Newbery Award, regardless of content. There were some duds in that bunch. For instance, I could not get into Dr. Doolittle by Hugh Lofting, due to the archaic language and the fact that there was a stereotypical black character.
Strawberry Girl’s synopsis sounded girly, too. According to the back cover blurb, Birdie Boyer is a plucky ten-year old heroine in turn of the century Florida who oversees a crop of strawberries in the hopes of winning some Four H-styled prize. The actual story is somewhat darker. It’s about a Hatfield vs McCoyesque feud between the Boyer’s neighbors, who are in reality, squatters. The father, in particular, is a drunken lout with rage issues. The mother is not much better. The Boyers, by contrast, are one class above them, and while not educated, per se, have strong bourgeois values and a Puritan work ethic. The neighbors don’t resort to violence. Instead, they use criminal mischief, such as ignoring property boundaries and destroying crops. The neighbor’s son is the lone good egg in the family, and with the help of Birdie, tames his wild streak. The families enter into an uneasy truce, thanks to the friendship between the two kids. The story is accompanied by the author’s stark, black-and-white illustrations that have the austere quality of folk art.
I ended up reading other Lenski books that year. Her regional series followed the lives of children in various US locales. Most of the scenarios dealt with poverty in some form or another. Appalachia is explored in Blue Ridge Billy. Judy’s Journey is about migrant workers. She even dealt with racism in a book that I only heard about, entitled Mama Hattie’s Girl, which features an all-African American (or in the parlance of the time, Negro) cast. Yet another novel is set in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Lenski was prolific, writing and illustrating many picture books, historical novels and even songbooks. Her focus on poverty and effects on children make her a kind of children’s lit version of John Steinbeck.
Much of her work is out of print. This past summer, I volunteered for my local library (MLK Public Library here in DC), and I had the pleasure of working with the Rare Children’s Book Collection. Many Lenski works are housed in there.
It’s a shame that more of her stuff isn’t in print. Her focus on the vulnerable left an impresseion my young mind, and made me empathetic and curious about the lives of others.
Strawberry Girl’s synopsis sounded girly, too. According to the back cover blurb, Birdie Boyer is a plucky ten-year old heroine in turn of the century Florida who oversees a crop of strawberries in the hopes of winning some Four H-styled prize. The actual story is somewhat darker. It’s about a Hatfield vs McCoyesque feud between the Boyer’s neighbors, who are in reality, squatters. The father, in particular, is a drunken lout with rage issues. The mother is not much better. The Boyers, by contrast, are one class above them, and while not educated, per se, have strong bourgeois values and a Puritan work ethic. The neighbors don’t resort to violence. Instead, they use criminal mischief, such as ignoring property boundaries and destroying crops. The neighbor’s son is the lone good egg in the family, and with the help of Birdie, tames his wild streak. The families enter into an uneasy truce, thanks to the friendship between the two kids. The story is accompanied by the author’s stark, black-and-white illustrations that have the austere quality of folk art.
I ended up reading other Lenski books that year. Her regional series followed the lives of children in various US locales. Most of the scenarios dealt with poverty in some form or another. Appalachia is explored in Blue Ridge Billy. Judy’s Journey is about migrant workers. She even dealt with racism in a book that I only heard about, entitled Mama Hattie’s Girl, which features an all-African American (or in the parlance of the time, Negro) cast. Yet another novel is set in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Lenski was prolific, writing and illustrating many picture books, historical novels and even songbooks. Her focus on poverty and effects on children make her a kind of children’s lit version of John Steinbeck.
Much of her work is out of print. This past summer, I volunteered for my local library (MLK Public Library here in DC), and I had the pleasure of working with the Rare Children’s Book Collection. Many Lenski works are housed in there.
It’s a shame that more of her stuff isn’t in print. Her focus on the vulnerable left an impresseion my young mind, and made me empathetic and curious about the lives of others.
December 8, 2016
1946 Newbery Medal winner.
These older Newbery Medal books, these children's classics, are struggling to stand the test of time. Why? Well, take this one for example. It's about a time gone by, very different from today, a much harder time. It's characters, it's language, it's life situations are so stark, they must seem almost foreign to today's young readers. Can today's children still relate? Maybe, but not very easily. It's a shame too. Most of them are well written, have wonderful characters, and most share positive examples, themes and ideas that were important then and are still important today. About this book; I liked it. It's story line and themes are much more serious than you might guess from the title. Lenski was a good writer. She died in 1974 at age 80, and she published 98 books during that span.
These older Newbery Medal books, these children's classics, are struggling to stand the test of time. Why? Well, take this one for example. It's about a time gone by, very different from today, a much harder time. It's characters, it's language, it's life situations are so stark, they must seem almost foreign to today's young readers. Can today's children still relate? Maybe, but not very easily. It's a shame too. Most of them are well written, have wonderful characters, and most share positive examples, themes and ideas that were important then and are still important today. About this book; I liked it. It's story line and themes are much more serious than you might guess from the title. Lenski was a good writer. She died in 1974 at age 80, and she published 98 books during that span.
May 28, 2021
I should have been more securely fastened in my chair when I finished this book - what a catapulting shock of an ending!! Christians, you'll LOVE IT!!
I'm not sure how this book got missed in my childhood, but it's a sad occurrence for sure. The ending entirely made the book, and it's one that every Christian will applaud and cheer! So you're probably scratching your head like me, wondering just how this book won a Newbery Medal? I don't know. But here's what the story is about...
A farming family moves to Florida in the hopes of doing better for themselves with a new plot of land and more opportunity. But will their neighbors allow it? Full of oneriness and spite, and a drunken father that eggs his children on, the neighbors are not the nice, friendly sort by any means. The family experiences one set back after another from the very people that live next to them. Will they be able to endure?
You'll just have to read the book to see how it could possibly end with a shock!
Ages: 6 - 12
Cleanliness: "Law me" "shucks" and "Lawzy" are said. There is a scene with various people dancing. There is a drunk in the story who is changed. Two boys beat up the school teacher - he was so badly beaten that school is closed indefinitely. A girl gets so mad at a boy (that threw a snake at her) that she hates everything about him - she forgives him later.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! You’ll see my updates as I’m reading and know which books I’m liking and what I’m not finishing and why. You’ll also be able to utilize my library for looking up titles to see whether the book you’re thinking about reading next has any objectionable content or not. From swear words, to romance, to bad attitudes (in children’s books), I cover it all!
I'm not sure how this book got missed in my childhood, but it's a sad occurrence for sure. The ending entirely made the book, and it's one that every Christian will applaud and cheer! So you're probably scratching your head like me, wondering just how this book won a Newbery Medal? I don't know. But here's what the story is about...
A farming family moves to Florida in the hopes of doing better for themselves with a new plot of land and more opportunity. But will their neighbors allow it? Full of oneriness and spite, and a drunken father that eggs his children on, the neighbors are not the nice, friendly sort by any means. The family experiences one set back after another from the very people that live next to them. Will they be able to endure?
You'll just have to read the book to see how it could possibly end with a shock!
Ages: 6 - 12
Cleanliness: "Law me" "shucks" and "Lawzy" are said. There is a scene with various people dancing. There is a drunk in the story who is changed. Two boys beat up the school teacher - he was so badly beaten that school is closed indefinitely. A girl gets so mad at a boy (that threw a snake at her) that she hates everything about him - she forgives him later.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! You’ll see my updates as I’m reading and know which books I’m liking and what I’m not finishing and why. You’ll also be able to utilize my library for looking up titles to see whether the book you’re thinking about reading next has any objectionable content or not. From swear words, to romance, to bad attitudes (in children’s books), I cover it all!
April 4, 2023
"Well, if my Pa done it, he meant it for a warning," said Birdie angrily. "He wants to let your Pa know that hog came on our place and did a heap of damage, and it better not come again!" (PG 50)
Newberry Award Winner-- 1945
This is my second Lenski novel and they are very interesting reads. I like the time periods in American history she writes about. This one is set in Florida in 1901 where we meet the Boyers and Slaters. Florida is still being settled at this time, so it's pretty much newer than most folks think. The Slaters make the life of the Boyers a living hell from ruining their strawberry fields to almost burning down their home. Jealousy is more at heart in this story but the Boyers won't let anyone ruin their dreams. They kill the Slaters with kindness and patience.
The foreword explains more on its history and I was deeply interested in the historical facts Lois Lenski provided.
We need to know our country better; to know and understand people different from ourselves; so that we can say: "This then is the way these people lived. Because I understand it, I admire and love them." Is not this a rich heritage for our American children?-- FOREWORD BY Lois Lenski
Great, short read for the kids.
Newberry Award Winner-- 1945
This is my second Lenski novel and they are very interesting reads. I like the time periods in American history she writes about. This one is set in Florida in 1901 where we meet the Boyers and Slaters. Florida is still being settled at this time, so it's pretty much newer than most folks think. The Slaters make the life of the Boyers a living hell from ruining their strawberry fields to almost burning down their home. Jealousy is more at heart in this story but the Boyers won't let anyone ruin their dreams. They kill the Slaters with kindness and patience.
The foreword explains more on its history and I was deeply interested in the historical facts Lois Lenski provided.
We need to know our country better; to know and understand people different from ourselves; so that we can say: "This then is the way these people lived. Because I understand it, I admire and love them." Is not this a rich heritage for our American children?-- FOREWORD BY Lois Lenski
Great, short read for the kids.
May 29, 2021
“Here then, in the Florida backwoods, a world exists, which few people, town residents or northern tourists, see, realize or even suspect. Many who see it fail sadly to understand it. Here is a real and authentic corner of the American scene, a segment of American life.” From the Foreword
I don’t read many children’s stories anymore, but I found this in a box of old family books and the cover brought back memories. I don't remember reading it but I know it sat on my shelves when I was a “gal young un,” as the “Strawberry Girl” in this story is lovingly called by her father.
Even when I was young, I liked tales of hard work (would rather read about it than do it I suppose), and this fits that bill. It’s rural Florida in the early 1900’s, and folks have to force a living from the land, and sometimes force themselves to get along with their difficult neighbors. The details of daily life were interesting: facing crocodiles and cutting off the heads of chickens and the back-breaking job of picking strawberries.
I believe Lenski took pains to research the lifestyle and get the dialect right. I know I’ve heard talk like this from my father, who was born in the rural Midwest during this time (and he did often called us “young uns”).
It won the Newbery Medal in 1945, and while it’s too moralistic and simplified for today’s readers, I think Lenski’s attempt to shed light on and garner sympathy for a region of rural America was largely successful.
I don’t read many children’s stories anymore, but I found this in a box of old family books and the cover brought back memories. I don't remember reading it but I know it sat on my shelves when I was a “gal young un,” as the “Strawberry Girl” in this story is lovingly called by her father.
Even when I was young, I liked tales of hard work (would rather read about it than do it I suppose), and this fits that bill. It’s rural Florida in the early 1900’s, and folks have to force a living from the land, and sometimes force themselves to get along with their difficult neighbors. The details of daily life were interesting: facing crocodiles and cutting off the heads of chickens and the back-breaking job of picking strawberries.
I believe Lenski took pains to research the lifestyle and get the dialect right. I know I’ve heard talk like this from my father, who was born in the rural Midwest during this time (and he did often called us “young uns”).
It won the Newbery Medal in 1945, and while it’s too moralistic and simplified for today’s readers, I think Lenski’s attempt to shed light on and garner sympathy for a region of rural America was largely successful.
September 27, 2016
Lois Lenski wrote a huge series of children's books that were set in different sections of the U.S. As a youngster, I was never able to relate to this Newbery Medal winner as much as I did to her "Cotton in My Sack," because it is set in Florida rather than Arkansas, and in my youth I spent much, much more time in cotton patches than in strawberry fields.
January 10, 2021
This is one of my favourite childhood stories, ranking up there with Heidi and A Little Princess:) Marvelous story of life long ago with wonderful spiritual truths woven through....
July 30, 2018
Here's a great way to keep history alive for middle-schoolers. Lois Lenski wrote about ordinary country children, usually in agricultural occupations. Her STRAWBERRY GIRL lives in Florida and has to contend with rival families struggling to bring in the seasonal strawberry crop. While the time (ca. 1940) has now gone by, this is such a worthwhile document of Florida history that it is still in print and widely read in the Sunshine State. Perhaps your kids will enjoy it too!
September 9, 2022
I'd forgotten how incredibly dramatic Strawberry Girl is. A story of neighbors, community, and agriculture. This was one of the books I read over and over again once I learned how to read, and I think it gave me a love for vernacular language in literature--it's so rich and adds to the atmosphere. (Having a lot of Southern relatives also helped tune my ear to accents.)
Content warnings: this story is just...a lot for small, sensitive readers. Animal death, fire, poison, death threats. Flannery O'Connor Prep 101.
Content warnings: this story is just...a lot for small, sensitive readers. Animal death, fire, poison, death threats. Flannery O'Connor Prep 101.
September 23, 2021
Loved learning a bit of Florida history. Laughed at some of the antics of these two somewhat rival families. Wished it had just a bit more heart. The illustrations were quite charming.
May 5, 2024
What an incredibly hard book to read! I’m amazed that a child of 6 to 10 years old, who is just starting to read, gets through this book? The dialect, for me, was really hard to read (wonder how a child makes out?) and the story mediocre at best.
May 24, 2015
This book is an example of an older Newbery that has not aged particularly well, but still offers very interesting glimpses of our American past.
Lois Lenski, prolific author of children’s books, wrote one large group of books about how children typically lived in different regions in the United States in the 1930s and 1940’s.
Strawberry Girl’s setting is Florida. It’s hard to believe that the rural dramas and the hard, hard lives depicted might have occurred where Disney World exists now! That fact alone adds interest to this 1946 Newbery winner.
Other positives include the spunky central character of 10-year-old Birdie, strong and happy family values, and the persistency of her family to succeed in Florida.
Negatives include jealous, nasty neighbors who not only mock the efforts of the Boyers, but actually commit dangerous criminal deeds to thwart their success. The scene that stays in my mind is one in which Birdie rides frantically to the Slaters’ house to beg them to help put out the brush fire that is creeping closer to their home. Mr. Slater and his sons just keep on rocking infuriatingly on their porch as Birdie realizes they purposefully set the fire. The misdeeds of these neighbors are treated rather nonchalantly, not with the condemnation they deserve.
An equally big negative is the happy ending of the book. Although I generally love these, this ending is so unrealistic that I actually rolled my eyes many times during these pages. I am all for kindness and conversions, but the changes in the Slaters would have taken many miracles and months to convincingly occur.
After reading Lois Lenski’s rich and impressive biographical sketch, I am certain that she deserves reading. I’m pretty sure, however, that she has better examples than Strawberry Girl. I also agree with Caitlin, my fellow Goodreader, that I wouldn't read this Lenski book to my (grand)children.
Lois Lenski, prolific author of children’s books, wrote one large group of books about how children typically lived in different regions in the United States in the 1930s and 1940’s.
Strawberry Girl’s setting is Florida. It’s hard to believe that the rural dramas and the hard, hard lives depicted might have occurred where Disney World exists now! That fact alone adds interest to this 1946 Newbery winner.
Other positives include the spunky central character of 10-year-old Birdie, strong and happy family values, and the persistency of her family to succeed in Florida.
Negatives include jealous, nasty neighbors who not only mock the efforts of the Boyers, but actually commit dangerous criminal deeds to thwart their success. The scene that stays in my mind is one in which Birdie rides frantically to the Slaters’ house to beg them to help put out the brush fire that is creeping closer to their home. Mr. Slater and his sons just keep on rocking infuriatingly on their porch as Birdie realizes they purposefully set the fire. The misdeeds of these neighbors are treated rather nonchalantly, not with the condemnation they deserve.
An equally big negative is the happy ending of the book. Although I generally love these, this ending is so unrealistic that I actually rolled my eyes many times during these pages. I am all for kindness and conversions, but the changes in the Slaters would have taken many miracles and months to convincingly occur.
After reading Lois Lenski’s rich and impressive biographical sketch, I am certain that she deserves reading. I’m pretty sure, however, that she has better examples than Strawberry Girl. I also agree with Caitlin, my fellow Goodreader, that I wouldn't read this Lenski book to my (grand)children.
July 27, 2016
Ok, yes, I see that the other Slaters were ready to become 'civilized.' But their Pa's conversion, apparently by that hungry traveling preacher, as totally out-of-the-blue. This book is very much an earnest exhortation to hard work, clean living, and kindliness. Upon this reread, at this time of my life, it was almost nauseating.
I kept thinking, too, of the anthropological fallacy that Lenski succumbed to. It's clear that she can't but help think of herself as someone studying the natives, trying to understand them well enough to improve them. Kindly meant, but unwelcome and foolish. Vine Deloria Jr., in Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto (and others) points out that people are very likely to lie to, and play tricks on, and keep secrets from, outsiders, especially the tactless and disrespectful. I just don't know how much of Lenski's portrait of 'Crackers' is authentic. Consider: http://www.mediaite.com/online/cracke...
The map is kinda-sorta funny, too. So much wilderness has been lost in Florida in such a short time.
The time of this is still unclear, too. Here's a bit about the history of planting strawberries in Galloway: https://news.google.com/newspapers?ni.... So, that supports the author's claim of sometime in the early 20th century. Perhaps studying the history of cattle ranching would give more precision - when did the open range give way to the fences? There's this: https://www.floridamemory.com/photogr... which includes a photo of "First barbed wire fencing in Osceola County : Kissimmee, Florida (c. 1910)."
May 7, 2017
Strawberry Girl, the 1946 Newberry winner, shares a slice of reality from early 1900s Florida with main character, Birdie, that kids and adults alike will find charming.
I personally learned a lot about the regional speech, mannerisms & traditions that I never would've known. The lives of today's youth (and even my own) are so vastly different from the times in this book. It really makes you think. The characters endured so much, but the conflict resolution is a happy one. Lois Lenski's SHOO-FLY GIRL was a favorite of mine in my youth and I wasn't disappointed in this one. I want to try BAYOU SUZETTE next. The quaint pencil drawings are so cute and a little something extra to her books
I personally learned a lot about the regional speech, mannerisms & traditions that I never would've known. The lives of today's youth (and even my own) are so vastly different from the times in this book. It really makes you think. The characters endured so much, but the conflict resolution is a happy one. Lois Lenski's SHOO-FLY GIRL was a favorite of mine in my youth and I wasn't disappointed in this one. I want to try BAYOU SUZETTE next. The quaint pencil drawings are so cute and a little something extra to her books
April 24, 2009
This was a huge favorite of mine as a child. I recognized a lot of the slang, having spent so much time in Alabama/Florida as a kid. Maybe that's why I liked it so much -- it felt familiar, even though my family was a few generations more modern that the Boyers, depicted in this book. Re-reading it as an adult, I can definitely see the pat ending is flawed and rushed, but if children don't see it what's the harm? I think this criticism is mostly made by modern adults.
November 8, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. Not only are the characters well-drawn, and the illustrations quaint, but I learned a piece of Florida's history - something I knew nothing about prior to reading Strawberry Girl.
May 29, 2018
ENGLISH: An unassuming novel, somewhat in the style of Laura Ingalls's books (Little House in the Prairie), although the plot takes place in Florida, and what it tells is not the author's life. The way of speaking of the characters (in the style of the deep South) becomes a little tiresome over time.
ESPAÑOL: Novela sencilla, al estilo de los libros de Laura Ingalls (La Casa de la Pradera), sólo que el argumento tiene lugar en Florida y la autora no lo ha vivido. La forma de hablar de los personajes (al estilo del sur profundo) se vuelve con el tiempo un poco pesada.
ESPAÑOL: Novela sencilla, al estilo de los libros de Laura Ingalls (La Casa de la Pradera), sólo que el argumento tiene lugar en Florida y la autora no lo ha vivido. La forma de hablar de los personajes (al estilo del sur profundo) se vuelve con el tiempo un poco pesada.
Read
April 20, 2024DNF
I don’t like this one at all. I don’t like forced accents or dialect in a book when it feels unnatural. This is just not my style.
I don’t like this one at all. I don’t like forced accents or dialect in a book when it feels unnatural. This is just not my style.
May 23, 2022
I thought I'd read this as a youngster, but discovered that the story was entirely new to me. It is part of a series of books written by Lenski called the American Regional series. The author visited each part of the country that she features in each book of the series, staying long enough to study and write about the separate culture of each region. She focused especially on the lives of children, wanting American children all over the US to understand each other's similarities and differences. From 1943 through 1978, she produced 16 books featuring different regions of the US. Strawberry Girl, written in 1945, features the frontier of the piney woods and swamps of Florida, where settlers still had to wrest a living from the soil, as well as raise animals in the land of gators and snakes.
Birdie Boyer is 10 years old when her family moves to central Florida to raise strawberries. They set up housekeeping, and right away run into trouble with neighbors. Birdie's family is hardworking and industrious, with a nice home and clean habits. But the neighboring Slater family is just the opposite. They are squatters who run cattle on the common ground and allow their herd to trample the Boyer's freshly planted strawberry beds. When Mr. Boyer puts up fences, the Slaters allow their hogs to dig under the fences and spoil the crops. When Mr. Boyer uses barbed wire, they cut through the wire and turn their animals into the fields. It has all the makings of a feud. The story is raw; there is no sugar-coating of the words and emotions on both sides. But because the Boyers choose to try to be good neighbors, despite the bad behavior on the Slater's side, in the end, the feud is settled in a wonderful way.
My library consortium has several books of the series, and I am hoping to read more of them soon.
Birdie Boyer is 10 years old when her family moves to central Florida to raise strawberries. They set up housekeeping, and right away run into trouble with neighbors. Birdie's family is hardworking and industrious, with a nice home and clean habits. But the neighboring Slater family is just the opposite. They are squatters who run cattle on the common ground and allow their herd to trample the Boyer's freshly planted strawberry beds. When Mr. Boyer puts up fences, the Slaters allow their hogs to dig under the fences and spoil the crops. When Mr. Boyer uses barbed wire, they cut through the wire and turn their animals into the fields. It has all the makings of a feud. The story is raw; there is no sugar-coating of the words and emotions on both sides. But because the Boyers choose to try to be good neighbors, despite the bad behavior on the Slater's side, in the end, the feud is settled in a wonderful way.
My library consortium has several books of the series, and I am hoping to read more of them soon.
August 31, 2016
I'm basing this rating on how much I enjoyed it when I read it: almost 30 years ago in fourth grade. I remember loving Lois Lenski and the illustrations are wonderful. My friend and I were both reading this at the same time. I was flying through it and she was plodding and then overnight to my shock and horror she finished the whole thing while I was "waiting up" for her. Never forgot that.
August 14, 2020
I remember reading this as a kid, but had forgotten that it was written in the vernacular of the South in the depression. I'd also forgotten that it was in Florida.
May 12, 2021
Born and reared in Florida, I remember loving this book from my childhood.
August 12, 2020
In her forward, Lenski explains that she writes novels about American children from different regions of our country so that young readers will know their land better. In particular, she wants to help American children to love those who are different from themselves by helping her readers understand each other better.
Even though she occasionally describes people with words or generalizations we wouldn’t find in a modern story, Lenski’s vintage books are a lovely example of a kind of “multiculturalism” based on love and respect.
In this novel, we witness the conflict between two contrasting households of Florida “crackers.” One family wants to fence their land and improve their lives through hard work and ingenuity. The other family violently resents anyone who restricts the free range of their cattle or who acts “uppity” by pursuing comfort or refinement of any kind. Nowadays we would say that the behavior and dynamics of the second family are definitely dysfunctional.
In a modern story, I’m pretty sure that the father of the second family would be an irredeemable bad guy who needs to be kicked out by his wife. Yet that’s not Lenski’s approach at all. She is more interested in showing us these people in all their humanity than in judging them. In addition, the final solution is one that I cannot imagine appearing in a modern tale for children .
I enjoyed this story and will be happy to share it with my children.
Even though she occasionally describes people with words or generalizations we wouldn’t find in a modern story, Lenski’s vintage books are a lovely example of a kind of “multiculturalism” based on love and respect.
In this novel, we witness the conflict between two contrasting households of Florida “crackers.” One family wants to fence their land and improve their lives through hard work and ingenuity. The other family violently resents anyone who restricts the free range of their cattle or who acts “uppity” by pursuing comfort or refinement of any kind. Nowadays we would say that the behavior and dynamics of the second family are definitely dysfunctional.
In a modern story, I’m pretty sure that the father of the second family would be an irredeemable bad guy who needs to be kicked out by his wife. Yet that’s not Lenski’s approach at all. She is more interested in showing us these people in all their humanity than in judging them. In addition, the final solution is one that I cannot imagine appearing in a modern tale for children .
I enjoyed this story and will be happy to share it with my children.
Shelved as 'could-not-enter'
April 11, 2023No Review Stars - I tried to read this children's classic of life in rural Florida eighty to one hundred years ago, but could not get on with it. I spring from Florida Crackers myself and am quite intimate with the dialect and the folkways. From the opening page, Lenski's rendering of dialect and her so superior authorial voice were jarringly condescending, and the descriptions of landscape and even the soil were so wrong that I could not continue. Apparently she used to vacation in Florida and thought that she had the general picture and that the New Yorkers and New Englanders would appreciate the local color. I did love another of her regional books Cotton in My Sack when I was young, but always steered clear of this one, despite growing up in Central Florida. Oddly, I can recall no Florida teacher or librarian ever recommending it, either. I would recommend it now only for academic study of American Children's Literature.
January 1, 2012
I like to think I've been reasonably successful in making readers out of my kids, though none of them loves it as much as I do. However, I haven't been terribly successful in passing on love of particular books. Strawberry Girl, along with Lois Lenski's other books about girls from various parts of the US, is one of those I loved but could never convince my older daughter to read. When NetGalley offered this one, I jumped at the chance to re-live part of my childhood (though I must admit that my library has a large, though old set of Lenski's books).
Strawberry Girl is set in the early 1900's in Florida when it was still a rural swamp. The main conflict is between a new family in town, a family that puts up fences and gardens and engages in agriculture as business, and a family that has been in town for a long time, or more precisely, the alcoholic father of that family, who is used to allowing his cattle and pigs to graze free and resents the fences the new people erect. This book, along with the others in the series, spotlights the differences in people's lives in various parts of the country prior to the homogenization wrought by television and big box retailers. Birdie and her family are "Crackers" and we learn the origin of the term. She attends a one-room school and goes barefoot most of the time. The dialogue in the book shows her dialect. They farm strawberries and oranges and drink milk from their own cow. Girls wear dresses made from flour sacks and get hats at the milliner.
Any book that can still be found in libraries this many years after it was published has to appeal to someone besides just me, and it certainly appeals to me. It is a children's book--a quick Google search shows grade levels between 3 and 6. I give it an A.
Strawberry Girl is set in the early 1900's in Florida when it was still a rural swamp. The main conflict is between a new family in town, a family that puts up fences and gardens and engages in agriculture as business, and a family that has been in town for a long time, or more precisely, the alcoholic father of that family, who is used to allowing his cattle and pigs to graze free and resents the fences the new people erect. This book, along with the others in the series, spotlights the differences in people's lives in various parts of the country prior to the homogenization wrought by television and big box retailers. Birdie and her family are "Crackers" and we learn the origin of the term. She attends a one-room school and goes barefoot most of the time. The dialogue in the book shows her dialect. They farm strawberries and oranges and drink milk from their own cow. Girls wear dresses made from flour sacks and get hats at the milliner.
Any book that can still be found in libraries this many years after it was published has to appeal to someone besides just me, and it certainly appeals to me. It is a children's book--a quick Google search shows grade levels between 3 and 6. I give it an A.
October 25, 2012
This book almost rated four stars, but the highly improbably ending left a sour note in my mouth. I did not believe for a moment that a single kindness (even a long and sustained kindness) could so totally change the character of Mr. Slater. I could sort of see him being nice to the Boyers from now on, but his entire personality has changed. When he's talking about the death of his livlihood and entire way of life, it says that previously he'd have been in a rage, but now he was gentle as milk. What? No. Having a change of heart, even a sincere one, does not change you completely overnight. He also seems to have kicked the alcoholism without any troubles whatsoever.
I thought I was going to hate the dialect - I usually do - but I ended up really liking it. I think that was because it was largely a vocabulary difference rather than a pronunciation difference. I wasn't having to squint and think to figure out what a particular phonetic pile was meant to represent. A fair amount of the phrases, such as "might could" I have heard actual people use, so they were familiar to me already.
The setting was one of the most distinguished characteristics of the book. The time period was one that I was not familiar with, particularly in a rural Florida context, and there were lots of details and atmosphere to make it come alive.
Some of the pacing seemed almost episodic, a chapter would end with violence and the next one would open with something mundane. The little Slater girls were angry, then they weren't, then they were. But there are many other books set up like that, and I think it was purposeful.
I thought I was going to hate the dialect - I usually do - but I ended up really liking it. I think that was because it was largely a vocabulary difference rather than a pronunciation difference. I wasn't having to squint and think to figure out what a particular phonetic pile was meant to represent. A fair amount of the phrases, such as "might could" I have heard actual people use, so they were familiar to me already.
The setting was one of the most distinguished characteristics of the book. The time period was one that I was not familiar with, particularly in a rural Florida context, and there were lots of details and atmosphere to make it come alive.
Some of the pacing seemed almost episodic, a chapter would end with violence and the next one would open with something mundane. The little Slater girls were angry, then they weren't, then they were. But there are many other books set up like that, and I think it was purposeful.
January 29, 2018
I liked this book about a family who moves to a new farm in Florida, during the pioneer days, determined to make the farm a success with a beautiful orchard and strawberry grove.
Birdie is excited to become a Strawberry Girl, but is worried that the disgruntled neighbors will make trouble for her family. When the neighbor's pigs and cows trample over the new strawberry plants, Birdie's father is outraged and vows to fence in his property to keep them out. This begins a feud between the two farmers, but the farmer's children are eager to make friends. Only Birdie and her forgiving mother can make peace between the warring neighbors, and make both farms a success!
I loved the authentic accents and idiomatic dialogue of the characters, and the rich history presented in this story! It's also special to know that most of the stories here are true, and really happened to various pioneers, cattlemen, and farmers in those days.
This book reminds me strongly on the Little House on the Prairie series, but it's missing the enchanting writing and I didn't really identify or connect with the characters in this book as much as with Little House. The characters in this story are too ornery! I enjoyed reading this story, but it just can't compare to Little House.
Birdie is excited to become a Strawberry Girl, but is worried that the disgruntled neighbors will make trouble for her family. When the neighbor's pigs and cows trample over the new strawberry plants, Birdie's father is outraged and vows to fence in his property to keep them out. This begins a feud between the two farmers, but the farmer's children are eager to make friends. Only Birdie and her forgiving mother can make peace between the warring neighbors, and make both farms a success!
I loved the authentic accents and idiomatic dialogue of the characters, and the rich history presented in this story! It's also special to know that most of the stories here are true, and really happened to various pioneers, cattlemen, and farmers in those days.
This book reminds me strongly on the Little House on the Prairie series, but it's missing the enchanting writing and I didn't really identify or connect with the characters in this book as much as with Little House. The characters in this story are too ornery! I enjoyed reading this story, but it just can't compare to Little House.
August 21, 2015
Backwoods Florida sounds to be as rough and tumble as the wild west. They had the same problems with ranging cattle ... and what about those "biggety" folk who come from the North (that is, "Caroliny") with their annoying habits, such as attending school, actually feeding their livestock, planting crops, painting their houses, putting up fences to keep the friendly neighborhood livestock from destroying their crops, and going to church.
I don't want to give anything away, but I would have preferred for Pa Slater to have been eaten by a 'gator. First of all, it has a nice rhyme to it. Secondly, he's a right bastard and deserves it.
The pictures are charming, and the big strawberry tray on the cover reminds me of my dad's homemade toolbox. Now I wonder if that has anything to do with his family having raised strawberries. Boy, those bonnets sure were big!
I don't want to give anything away, but I would have preferred for Pa Slater to have been eaten by a 'gator. First of all, it has a nice rhyme to it. Secondly, he's a right bastard and deserves it.
The pictures are charming, and the big strawberry tray on the cover reminds me of my dad's homemade toolbox. Now I wonder if that has anything to do with his family having raised strawberries. Boy, those bonnets sure were big!
May 31, 2023
This book was written in 1945, right around the time my mom was born. (It won the Newberry Award in 1946). It is set in the early 1900’s, right around the time my grandma was born. My grandma used to talk about how; when she was a girl her family was poor, but it didn’t matter because everyone was poor. This book really reflected that; focusing on the (white) inhabitants of a tiny town in Florida.
This was a neat little “slice of American Life” that revealed the rich dialect of families living in the region including adages, poems and songs, games and the general business of being a kid. There were a ton of clues as to how folks kept house, washed (or didn’t wash) clothes and bodies, participated in community, farming and ranching. The plot was centered around the work of growing a new crop to sell. The main subplot was a very interesting commentary on what makes good neighbors. (Turns out - It’s fences. Haha)
When I was young, I really loved stories about old-timey people. Not sure young people today would find this very interesting.
Physical copy from my library
This was a neat little “slice of American Life” that revealed the rich dialect of families living in the region including adages, poems and songs, games and the general business of being a kid. There were a ton of clues as to how folks kept house, washed (or didn’t wash) clothes and bodies, participated in community, farming and ranching. The plot was centered around the work of growing a new crop to sell. The main subplot was a very interesting commentary on what makes good neighbors. (Turns out - It’s fences. Haha)
When I was young, I really loved stories about old-timey people. Not sure young people today would find this very interesting.
Physical copy from my library
January 19, 2024
Read aloud with my 6 and 4 year olds. They enjoyed all the animal interactions and references to Florida. I think we all enjoyed this more after living in Florida, because many parts of nature here haven't changed (dirty feet from the sandy soil, alligators, gopher tortoises).
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