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Editorial Review Product Description
Approx. 4.5 hours
3 cassettes
Willa Joe is up on the roof at Aunt Patty's house.She went up to see the
sunrise, and Little Sister followed her, like she always does.But by
mid-morning, Willa Jo is still up on that roof, and she knows it wasn't just
the sunrise that brought her there.Audrey Couloumbis has perfectly
captured the pervasive feelings that can take hold when tragedy strikes--and
the slow, subtle revelations that come when one can finally get near to the
source.
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Getting Near to Baby.
I've owned this book for over ten years, and have never read it. Being a bored college student over the summer [and trying to make room in my bookshelf] I gave it a go. It isn't the fastest reading material in the world, the weightiness of the topics tend to slow it down, but it is good writing nonetheless. The narration reads true and feels appropriate, and I love how it ends--not completely definite, but definitely sweet.
Thinking back to if I would have read it when I was eight instead of twenty, I think I would have liked it, but not appreciated it so much. I am unfamiliar with the setting it has, and it isn't a setting to necessarily get lost in. The message of the story and how it's composed is really what gives it four stars, over any other reason. I think a younger audience will like it, but only those who have or are dealing with grief actually get it.
Stellar Newbery Honor Winner
Come watch the sunrise on Aunt Patty and Uncle Hob's roof with thirteen year old Willa Jo and her seven-year old grief stricken, mute "Little Sister."
It is hot and steep and dangerous, but the view allows a vista different from what is happening inside the grieving souls of two lonely, heart-broken little girls who recently lost their baby sister.
Once you are up there, why leave? In fact, why not stay throughout the day as neighbors gawk and Aunt Patty vigorously plys her guilt in an attempt to bring you down. In fact, it is Aunt Patty's take charge attitude, lack of understanding and extreme rules that drove you up there in the first place.
This poignant and profoundly sensitive 1990 Newbery Honor book is a gentle look at a family broken apart and uprooted by a series of unexpected events which yield heartbreaking sadness.
The original family of five becomes four when the unemployed father leaves; then they become three when sadly the baby of the family dies. Little Sister retreats inward and refuses to speak while Willa Jo is left to temporarily fend for the family.
While the loving, artistic mother mourns her losses, she valiantly attempts to hold on, but the enormity of her sadness leaves little room for the nurturing of the remaining children, who now become a family of two as they are taken away to live with their mother's sister and her husband.
Well intentioned, childless Aunt Patty is trying her best, but she misses the mark when coping with the two sad little girls who desperately miss their mother and struggle to understand loss and the change it brings.
Walk gently and quietly sit on the roof as dusk approaches and watch as loving, understanding Uncle Hobs is there beside the girls.
Earlier he not only climbed out, but he is now dancing while lending a helping hand and open heart as we slowly understand that Aunt Patty isn't evil, that mother truly does love her children, and if we look high enough, we will indeed find baby.
Highly recommended.
Great book for young girls, or any young reader
I liked this book a lot. Willa Jo and her sister are spending time at an Aunt's house after the death of their baby sister. They refuse to come off the roof. The youngest won't talk at all. The story is about the young girls learning to deal with loss, and healing and realizing love's healing power. It's a great book for a young reader.
Dealing with Grief
This story opens with Willa Jo sitting on her Aunt Patty's roof with her little sister, simply called Little Sister.When Aunt Patty realizes they are out there, she becomes very angry and tries to get them to come back inside.Willa Jo refuses.
The story goes on to explain the events that led up to Willa Jo sitting out on her aunt's roof.First of all, her very little sister, Baby, died recently.After Baby died, Little Sister stopped speaking altogether.Willa Jo and Little Sister lived with their mother; their father left to find work and never came home again.When Aunt Patty visited them after the death of Baby and found that their mother wasn't taking very good care of them, Aunt Patty took the two girls to her home for the summer.
Many things happen over the course of the summer that pit Willa Jo against her Aunt Patty.They are both stubborn and can't seem to agree on anything, from clothes to friends to what should be done about Little Sister's reluctance to speak.
Willa Jo is a very strong character, who stands up for herself and takes good care of Little Sister.I admired her for that.I like the unraveling of the mystery of Baby's death.I also really liked the Fingers characters, especially the friendship that forms between Little Sister and Isaac.
I didn't like how Willa Jo's mother allowed her two children to go with their aunt for the whole summer.It seems the grieving family would have helped each other more by staying together.
Getting Near to Baby
The book I read was Getting Near To Baby by Audrey Couloumbis. This book is a realistic fiction book. It is a good book and I recommend it.
In this book there is a girl named Willa Jo, a girl named "Little Sister", and a girl named "Baby". At the beginning of this story baby had died from drinking bad carnival water. Willa Jo, Little Sister, and their mom were very sad and didn't really keep up with their regular lifestyle. One day their Aunt Patty came and took Willa Jo and Little Sister till their mom got her life back on a regular schedule and had found a job. Willa Jo and Little Sister loved to sit on Aunt Patty's roof, which made Aunt Patty nervous, but they said that it made them feel closer to Baby in heaven.
I liked this book a lot. It was a sad book in parts but by the end it was better. This book is best suited for kids of the age 11 and up.I think this because you have to think of yourself in this situation and how you would feel. I put the age this way because this book has some flashbacks in the middle of the book so it is not a continuous story
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