The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

The Autobiography of
Miss Jane Pittman
by Ernest J. Gaines

From the publisher:
""This is a novel in the guise of the tape-recorded recollections of a black woman who has lived 110 years, who has been both a slave and a witness to the black militancy of the 1960's. In this woman Ernest Gaines has created a legendary figure, a woman equipped to stand beside William Faulkner's Dilsey in The Sound and the Fury." Miss Jane Pittman, like Dilsey, has 'endured,' has seen almost everything and foretold the rest. Gaines' novel brings to mind other great works The Odyssey for the way his heroine's travels manage to summarize the American history of her race, and Huckleberry Finn for the clarity of her voice, for her rare capacity to sort through the mess of years and things to find the one true story in it all."  -- Geoffrey Wolff, Newsweek.

"Stunning. I know of no black novel about the South that exudes quite the same refreshing mix of wit and wrath, imagination and indignation, misery and poetry. And I can recall no more memorable female character in Southern fiction since Lena of Faulkner's Light in August than Miss Jane Pittman." -- Josh Greenfeld,  Life ."

It is hard to rate or review a book like this. Did I like it? That is difficult to say. Did it have an impact on my life? Yes. I know it is a work of fiction and not an autobiography at all, but it has the feel of real life, and much of it is real life from a fictional viewpoint. So I'll ask myself the same questions I ask my students when they read autobiographies. 
"Did you learn something from reading it?" Yes, definitely - so many things. One small thing is that I never realized the importance placed in changing from a slave name after the abolition of slavery, but that would have been the first thing I did, too. 
"Did it make you think about your life and how it differs from the person/people you were reading about?" Totally and completely. When you are raised in oppression and have watched many people, including your mother, be killed and never knew your father (possibly a breeder from another plantation?), and witnessed all kinds of vice, your sensitivities are dulled and it is hard to know right from wrong. Several other reviewers have mentioned that they couldn't relate to Jane and that she was emotionless, but I think that is part of the story. Others have complained about the religious aspects towards the end, but that is also very plain to me. 
"What kind of character traits and attributes did you notice in the person/people that made it so they could overcome their difficulties?" She was obstinate, she was tough, she persevered. 

I'm glad I read this, it was a very gripping read. I didn't like the ending at all, but I guess this isn't the type of book to have a neat, wrapped up ending. 

Areas of concern:
*The "n" word proliferates in this book for obvious reasons. 
*This is a part of our 8th graders banned and challenged book unit. Here is what Marshall University said on their website, 
"Challenged as an eighth-grade district-wide reading assignment in the Puyallup (WA) schools because "racial slurs and stereotyping are used through the book, as well as scenes of sex, rape, and implied incest. The Puyallup School Board voted to uphold an earlier decision by a district committee requiring eighth-graders read the novel."

Suggested Ages:

Because this is an older book, the only suggested age I could find was "Upper Grades".

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith

From the publisher:
"A profoundly moving novel, and an honest and true one. It cuts right to the heart of life ... If you miss A Tree Grows in Brooklyn you will deny yourself a rich experience ... It is a poignant and deeply understanding story of childhood and family relationships. The Nolans lived in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn from 1902 until 1919 ... Their daughter Francie and their son Neeley knew more than their fair share of the privations and sufferings that are the lot of a great city's poor. Primarily this is Francie's book. She is a superb feat of characterization, an imaginative, alert, resourceful child. And Francie's growing up and beginnings of wisdom are the substance of  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. "

This book was amazing, yet I didn't really enjoy reading it.  It made me think, I learned from it, I went through a gamut of emotions while reading it. Actually, no, I didn't go through a gamut of emotions, I experienced pretty much just one emotion - sadness and depression (oops, that is 2 emotions). I don't like 400+ pages of sadness and depression, so I really didn't like reading this book. Does that mean it is not amazing? No. It proves the author's stunning ability to make me feel the pain that the characters were feeling. Many people have compared this book to  Little Women , but that is like comparing apples to oranges. There was always hope and love and laughter in  Little Women , even through their hard times. Here there was starvation, squalor, loss and burned dreams. Oh, if only Francie could have had a Marmee! But Katie could never have been a Marmee, even if she had loved Francie as much as she loved Neeley, because her life was one big never-ending cycle of drudgery and disappointment. How did those people living in the tenements survive? And yet, they were tenacious, hard-working, tough as nails and full of pride. I couldn't help but think of how our welfare system seems to have killed those traits in people. Francie and her family would have rather starved than accept "charity" for work they didn't do. One of the parts of the book that stuck with me the most was Francie describing standing in line to buy stale bread. 6 loaves of stale bread fed the family for a week, and "what amazing things Katie could make from it!". There is a page and a half describing the suppers made from the loaves of stale bread.

Another section that resonated with me was Francie's visit to the library. She read a book a day and was determined to read every book in the library, so she started with author's whose last name began with A, and was up to "Brown". On Saturdays Francie would get her alphabetical book, but then treat herself with another book. She would always ask the librarian to suggest a good book for a girl. Without bothering to look up, the librarian would ask the age of the girl and Francie would say her age, which was 11 at the time. 

Each week Francie made the same request and each week the librarian asked the same question. A name on a card meant nothing to her and since she never looked up into a child's face, she never did get to know the little girl who took a book out every day and two on Saturday. A smile would have meant a lot to Francie and a friendly comment would have made her so happy. She loved the library and was anxious to worship the lady in charge. But the librarian had other things on her mind. She hated children anyhow. 

The librarian would then hand her one of two books as the only ones she would recommend for this poor, starved little piece of humanity. When Francie went back many years later and asked for a recommendation for an 11 year old girl, the same woman handed her one of the same books. As a middle school librarian who loves books and who loves my students, this woman's behavior was horrific to me. What a difference she could have made in that little girl's life! In case someone thinks I have forgotten that this is a work of fiction, I have not. However, I think that the librarian was portrayed accurately for that time and that location. 

I read this book because I had just had some 6th grade classes in the library discussing "classics", and this was one of the books on my children's classics list that I had never read. I'm not quite sure why this would be classified as a "children's" classic when it deals with many and varied adult issues. As a parent, I would never have let my 6th grader read this book. High school - yes, but it is pretty gritty for middle schoolers. 

While I can't say I enjoyed this book, I will say that it made a huge impression on me and made me very appreciative of the things I have and the ease of my life. There is a Tenement Museum in NYC that I would like to visit now that I have read about life in them.

Areas of concern:
*The sexual content is quite high. There is an aunt who is a "bad" girl and sleeps around with all sorts of men. There is a child sexual predator on the loose and there is a pretty graphic description when he gets his hands on the main character. Childbirth and breastfeeding are thoroughly discussed. There are some crude and vulgar references towards body parts and sex.
*Oh, so politically incorrect! There are slang terms and slurs against Jews, Italians, Irish... It is a true representation of the time and location, but it could be offensive to some. 
*A handful of cuss words.
*The sadness and complete depressive tone of the whole book, with really very little sense of hope or redemption, could be disturbing for many (including me).

Tom's Midnight Garden

Tom's Midnight Gardenby Philippa Pearce

From the publisher:
"Tom was a cross and resentful boy when he was sent to stay with his uncle and aunt because his brother, Peter , had caught the measles. As soon as he joined his relatives in their small apartment, he knew he would be bored and lonely. He would miss Peter as well as the garden to explore, there was only a paved yard and a row of garbage cans outside the back door.

When the time came for Tom to go home, however, he did everything he could to prolong his visit. For he had made a strange and wonderful discovery--a discovery that he could share with no one, except Peter. And Peter believed it all, and even, for one brief moment, came to share in Tom's fantastic midnight adventure."

One night while staying with relatives, Tom hears the grandfather clock strike 13 times. He goes to investigate and is transported to a garden in Victorian times where he meets a girl named Hatty. Mysteriously, whenever Tom visits the garden, it is a different season and Hatty is a different age. The ending is beautiful and bittersweet. If you are tired of all the paranormal and dystopian offerings out there, take the time to read this little classic.
 I tend to review new books that come out, but I'm also going to take the time to review some classics of children's literature.  I hope that these classics are still being read because there is something to be said for beautiful prose and good storytelling that has nothing to do with vampires, werewolves or the apocalypse (zombie or otherwise).  Tom's Midnight Garden won the Carnegie Award in 1958.  It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite books as a child - Magic Elizabeth.  It also has the feel of The Secret Garden.  As much as I enjoyed it, however, for me it had neither the magical quality of Magic Elizabeth, nor the haunting quality of The Secret Garden.  Still, it is definitely worth reading.