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aimeeaimeeelise's review against another edition
2.0
Anyone else catch the authors reference to another "Dear America" book within the text? Page 91, the play Bess is in in called, "When Will This Cruel War be Over?" Hmmm, shameless plug?!
meghan's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
sylvimblack's review against another edition
4.0
I remember reading the Dear America books when I was really young and being fascinated by this one especially. Even now, I still think it's fascinating.
roary47's review against another edition
3.0
I learned things I didn’t know in the history section after the diary. The diary seemed to contradict itself mainly because she seemed to see or someone saw for her, but it was not started who. Overall, a great short read.
evamadera1's review
4.0
A review from my old blog...
The Dear America series is probably one of the best historical fiction series for children. I enjoy reading these books even as an adult. Part of that is because I always wonder what life might have been like for a person living in different ages of history and how their life would have unfolded.
From the prospective of a future middle school English (possibly) teacher I definitely would assign at least one or two books from this series to my students.
This particular book is the story of Bess, a girl born with sight who loses her sight in a tragic snow sledding accident. She chronicles, through a sighted person (her twin sister for a large part) her time at the Perkins school for the blind and how she had to learn how to do all of these normal activities she once knew. Even though I wanted her to end up finding love in the epilogue she did not. I definitely enjoyed the book.
The Dear America series is probably one of the best historical fiction series for children. I enjoy reading these books even as an adult. Part of that is because I always wonder what life might have been like for a person living in different ages of history and how their life would have unfolded.
From the prospective of a future middle school English (possibly) teacher I definitely would assign at least one or two books from this series to my students.
This particular book is the story of Bess, a girl born with sight who loses her sight in a tragic snow sledding accident. She chronicles, through a sighted person (her twin sister for a large part) her time at the Perkins school for the blind and how she had to learn how to do all of these normal activities she once knew. Even though I wanted her to end up finding love in the epilogue she did not. I definitely enjoyed the book.
soulwinds's review
3.0
2.5-3 stars for Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
Thoughts and Plot
During the end of the American Great Depression Bess Brennan is rendered blind by the idiocy of another person who cause a sledding accident. Multiple operations take what little sight she has left instead of fixing it, so now she it left completely blind. Bess's uncle decides it's best if she goes to Perkins School for the Blind to learn how to self sufficient and overcoming her disability.
No longer able to keep her own diary, Bess enlists the help of her twin sister Elin to record her thoughts and feelings whenever she is home, and eventually has a teacher at Perkins help her during the school week. Elin adds her own little notes into the diary, going us a more rounded picture of what is going on around Bess since she cannot see. She mentions how people looked during certain conversations, and what has been going on outside of Bess's struggles.
At first I thought this might be a rather boring book, but it provided me wrong. Bess's friends were excellent. Angeline is a semi blind person, so she takes on the task of being everyone's 'eyes' and helps Bess learn how to do things like organize her drawers so her outfits will always look well put together. Eva is quiet and shy, but kind and a talented singer. it was interesting to hear a little about how she relearned to be independent and how Perkins goes about teaching blind students back in the day.
You also catch glimpses of what 'society' thought about blind people. For example, boys and girls at Perkins were not allowed to talk to each other. According to Bess's friends, it's because the school and government did not want blind people falling in love and having children with other blind people. Why? Because they don't want more blind people and they thought two blind people would pass their blindness on to their children. Right...
In Conclusion
Not the best of the Dear America series, but it was still interesting and worth the read. My only true issue with it is that I thought it was too short and could have gone into greater detail about how Bess and her friends got on outside of school and the house. They do go out to the movies and they do go to church once, but you have no idea how they got around really. I assume Elin may have helped them navigate, but you don't know for certain because the small entries say very little about those two particular outings. Just that they went out, they listened to a movie. They went to church, Bess was worried she was being stared at, Eva broke the tension.
That said, I still maintain its worth the read because the premises is interesting.
Age range: middle school and up/anyone who can read it really.
Thoughts and Plot
During the end of the American Great Depression Bess Brennan is rendered blind by the idiocy of another person who cause a sledding accident. Multiple operations take what little sight she has left instead of fixing it, so now she it left completely blind. Bess's uncle decides it's best if she goes to Perkins School for the Blind to learn how to self sufficient and overcoming her disability.
No longer able to keep her own diary, Bess enlists the help of her twin sister Elin to record her thoughts and feelings whenever she is home, and eventually has a teacher at Perkins help her during the school week. Elin adds her own little notes into the diary, going us a more rounded picture of what is going on around Bess since she cannot see. She mentions how people looked during certain conversations, and what has been going on outside of Bess's struggles.
At first I thought this might be a rather boring book, but it provided me wrong. Bess's friends were excellent. Angeline is a semi blind person, so she takes on the task of being everyone's 'eyes' and helps Bess learn how to do things like organize her drawers so her outfits will always look well put together. Eva is quiet and shy, but kind and a talented singer. it was interesting to hear a little about how she relearned to be independent and how Perkins goes about teaching blind students back in the day.
You also catch glimpses of what 'society' thought about blind people. For example, boys and girls at Perkins were not allowed to talk to each other. According to Bess's friends, it's because the school and government did not want blind people falling in love and having children with other blind people. Why? Because they don't want more blind people and they thought two blind people would pass their blindness on to their children. Right...
In Conclusion
Not the best of the Dear America series, but it was still interesting and worth the read. My only true issue with it is that I thought it was too short and could have gone into greater detail about how Bess and her friends got on outside of school and the house. They do go out to the movies and they do go to church once, but you have no idea how they got around really. I assume Elin may have helped them navigate, but you don't know for certain because the small entries say very little about those two particular outings. Just that they went out, they listened to a movie. They went to church, Bess was worried she was being stared at, Eva broke the tension.
That said, I still maintain its worth the read because the premises is interesting.
Age range: middle school and up/anyone who can read it really.
redstepper's review
2.0
Let me preface this review with this: I knew going into this that the book is way below my natural reading level. So, overall I liked this book as a "how to make the best of a bad situation" book for a younger audiance. However, I didnt like the lack of story line. Nothing big happened no explanations were really made (like why Eva got adopted or what happened to the teeth issue). Evrything was surface level and only for a brief stint of time. Overall it was an okay middle grade book.
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