The Trouble with May Amelia

by Jennifer L Holm (Author) Adam Gustavson (Illustrator)

The Trouble with May Amelia
Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade
May Amelia Jackson captured readers' hearts in the Newbery Honor Book Our Only May Amelia. Now, after over ten years, Jennifer Holm is bringing this beloved character back in a beautiful way. The Trouble with May Amelia is a gorgeously written story that's as heartbreaking as it is funny.

May Amelia lives in pioneer Washington State in 1900, and she just can't act the part of a proper young lady. Working a farm on the rainy Nasel River isn't easy - especially when you have seven brothers and a Pappa who proclaims that Girls Are Useless. May Amelia thinks she may have finally earned her father's respect when he asks her to translate for a gentleman who's interested in buying their land and making them rich. But when the deal turns out to be a scam, Pappa places all the blame on May. It's going to take a lot of sisu - that's Finnish for guts - to make things right.
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Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

Anyone interested in learning to write crowd-pleasing historical fiction for elementary school readers would be wise to study Holm's work. Since Our Only May Amelia (HarperCollins, 1999), Holm has collected three Newbery Honors, and this sequel demonstrates her mastery of writing a complete, exciting story in a trim novel. Twelve-year-old May Amelia Jackson lives on a farm in Washington State in 1900 with her parents, Finnish immigrants, and a passel of brothers. Life is hard, but Holm works humor into even the grimmest situations, and Gustavson's chapter-opening spot art adds a cozy, atmospheric touch. A ransacking bull (named Friendly) knocks down the outhouse (with May Amelia inside); suitors romancing Miss McEwing are sent packing in various, inventive ways lest the school lose its beloved teacher. Judicious use of Finnish phrases adds flavor, and details ground the story in an era when boys were still routinely "shanghaied" (involuntarily pressed into service on ships bound for Asia). "Best Brother" Wilbert tells her she's as irritating as a grain of sand in an oyster, and it's mighty fun to watch May Amelia morph into a pearl. Ages 8-12. (Apr.)

Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-7--Holm reunites readers with the protagonist of Our Only May Amelia (HarperCollins, 1999). It is 1900 and the 13-year-old lives with seven brothers on the family farm along the Nasel River in Washington State. What is the "trouble" with May Amelia? Everything, according to her father, beginning and ending with her gender. Nevertheless, she possesses "sisu," Finnish for "guts and courage." It carries her through the continued sorrow over the death of her baby sister; the loss of the farm due to a phony land-development scheme; and the shame and blame her family receive as a result. At a time when life is harsh and prejudices are expressed through the use of words like "Chinamen," for Chinese townspeople, and "shanghaied," May Amelia, like Turtle in Holm's Turtle in Paradise (Random, 2010), is less an "irritating grain of sand" than she is a pearl. Both girls possess a talent for saucy quips and sensitive interiors where pain runs deep, but that never overtakes either heroine completely. These girls come from very different, extremely difficult periods in U.S. history, yet their stories read as extensions of one another. While some readers may find these three books too similar, others will find them satisfying.--Tracy Karbel, Chicago Public Library

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"Holm incorporates warmth, humor, excitement and even a wedding into her story. . . . Narrating events in dryly witty, plainspoken first-person, this indomitable teen draws readers in with her account, through which her world comes alive. Readers who enjoyed the first novel should embrace May Amelia again and may well believe that the only "trouble" with her is that the sequel didn't happen sooner.
— Kirkus Reviews
Jennifer L Holm
Brother-and-sister team MATTHEW "Ink Boy" HOLM and JENNIFER "Writer Girl" HOLM are the daring duo behind the award-winning Babymouse series. Jennifer writes novels, including three Newbery Honor winners and her latest New York Times bestseller, The Fourteenth Goldfish. Matthew Holm is a graphic designer and freelance writer.

You can look for Matthew Holm at @mattholm and Jennifer Holm at @jenniholm on Twitter, and visit the Babymouse and Squish website at Babymouse.com.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781416913740
Lexile Measure
690
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date
May 01, 2012
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV013000 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | General
JUV016150 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | United States - 20th Century
JUV014000 - Juvenile Fiction | Girls & Women
Library of Congress categories
History
19th century
Brothers and sisters
Frontier and pioneer life
Washington (State)
Sex role
Finnish Americans
Parents Choice Awards (Spring) (2008-Up)
Silver Medal Winner 2011 - 2011
Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens
Recommended 2012 - 2012
Black-Eyed Susan Award
Nominee 2012 - 2013
Keystone to Reading Book Award
Nominee 2013 - 2013
Land of Enchantment Book Award
Nominee 2013 - 2014

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