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272 pgs, 2007 Upper elementary, middle school AR 5.1 MG From Booklist Gr. 5-8. Livy Two, named for her deceased
sister Olivia, is one of nine siblings living in the North Carolina
mountains during the 1960s. With her head-in-the-clouds, banjo-playing
father and an overworked, perpetually pregnant mother, Livy Two assumes
many of the child-care and household responsibilities. Still, she has
time to dream of future travels, a home of her own, and her own country-music
hits. Her worry over blind little sister Gentle dampens her dreams,
but she finds creative solutions with the family’s minimal resources.
In spite of the poverty and hardships, this is a family story that’s
full of love and delight. The parents have a visible, strong, working
marriage, something often ignored in children’s books. Their love
and acceptance keep the children secure, even in their hunger, and gradually
smoothes extended family members’ rough edges. Taken individually,
these characters are very human, but together they form a strong unit
that will help readers understand what it means to be a family. FrancesBradburn |
