haven't read this book in so long that I can't rate it, But I think I liked it, One of my childhood favorites, A story of three orphans: two sisters and a brother trying to find a home, After being shuffled from relative to relative then finally into a State Home and School, they get one last chance to be together and hopefully adopted,
Theres adorable little Mary Rose who know how to use her cuteness to get her own way, Ten yearold Peter is sully and doesnt like women or to be touched, And big sisterHedwig, or Hedy, who worries about how to keep the three together and not be split up to different homes,
Footnote:unfortunately my copy of this book is missing the last few pages, Oh no but what I do have ends at a good place.
Fave scenes: swimming at the lake and finding the two scarves,
sitelink blogspot. com/ Readymade family by Frances Salomon MurphySuch a touching, charming, wonderful story,
Several times I had to stop reading to wipe the tears from my eyes, The love these children long for, and ultimately receive from their new parentsis palpable, I read this book as a young teenager, This was a Scholastic publication, and every year before Summer vacation, the Scholastic catalog would come out and I would pick books from it to read over the summer.
It had a great impression on me, as a young kid who wasn't sure how he fit in anywhere, Even though I had a solid family upbringing, and with two parents, I somehow identified with the young boy in the story who is one of three siblings placed in a foster home, and who has problems with honesty.
I reread this book a few years ago after searching for it again, It was just as good as I remembered, The plot is realistic in that all the story lines are not neatly tied up in a "happily ever after" type of context, unlike your usual coming of age young adult novel.
The three children are believable characters because they are not especially talented, good looking, and even lovable, They seem like real children,
A well written, thoughtful book, I've come to where I try to give books away if I don't think I'll read them again, This one I'm keeping, because I'm sure I'll return to it from time to time,
Highly recommended. Love those orphan books! this is one of the books I had to leave behind when I moved out of my parents' house and it was a childhood favorite.
. . my bb found it for me on ebay for Christmas bc she is perfect :' When Hedwig, Peter and Mary Rose Kowalski are told at the State Home and School that they are being fostered with a kind druggist and his wife Mary Rose goes smilingly because she is only six, Peter goes sourly because at ten he has had enough mistreatment to learn how to lie, and twelve year old Hedwig with resignation for the bad things she'll probably encounter.
But after the initial strangeness of a new life is over, life with the Kennedys gets better and better, The Kowalskis make their own young friends Grandmother Kennedy gradually warms to the newcomers and when Hedy's aunt returns to try to claim her, new love and security keep Hedy where she is.
An excellent depiction of adoption, Specifically of the adoption of schoolage children, Three siblings of Polish ancestry have been passed around in the city ghetto by relatives who abused and devalued them following their mother's death, The oldest girl has learned to be a household slave, the littlest, very pretty girl has learned to flirt and tattle, and the middle child, a boy, has learned that he is no good and developed problems with temper tantrums, nightmares and stealing.
They are placed with a couple with a nice old house in a small town, and slowly they unfold and begin to blossom, winning over a few skeptics in their family and community as they go.
I enjoyed this as a child and still enjoy it today, The Fifties seems to be the time frame, but the situation of goodsized kids with nowhere to go is always timely, When the three Kowalski siblings are placed together in a foster home, Hedy the oldest child worries: “No one would keep Peter, of that she felt sure.
And no one would really want her unless they needed her help, Mary Rose was the one a family would want, ” There are difficulties ahead, but also a realistically happy ending for all three children and their new family in this generally optimisticchildrens book about life in a foster home.
I love this story, And Hedy, Peter and Mary Rose are all so special and real and just when I want to say something to one of them, or hug one, Mr.
or Mrs. Kennedy do it for me, I love the setting of the small town where people know each other and where kids run back and forth to friends houses,
I dont know how many times Ive read this story, but I know this wont be my last time,
There are a few euphemisms, Read as a child, and still have the copy, This afternoon I was working on a textile project when suddenly the name "Hedwig" floated to the top of my mind, For years I've been trying to remember the name of the book I loved as a child, about three children who are placed in a foster home.
The story is told in the POV of the eldest child, who loves her foster parents but worries it's just temporary and they'll be shuttled off to another foster home.
Suddenly I remembered her name was Hedwig, The book resonated with me, I think, because my parents were going through a bitter, protracted divorce probably around the time I read this and I, too, worried about my future.
I plugged "Hedwig" and "family" into Amazon, and up popped the familiar green cover of the book I liked so much overyears ago, I ordered a used copy and can't wait to revisit the story! While this book is very dated, it must have been quite progressive for its time.
children, including a troubled boy, are fostered by an older couple with no kids of their own, The boy has been mistreated and abused by
female relatives and has a difficult time with his temper among other issues, His preteen sister narrates the story, worrying about her troubled brother as well as some problems of her own, Welldone reallife drama for. Good childrens' story about foster families, We do a book exchange at my family reunion and as older books are appreciated among us, I almost always find a good, oldfashioned book to read.
Besides the exciting fact that the main character's name is Hedwig, I liked this story as it centers on how people can be loving families by adoption.
I also like how it reflects a time that was much more simple with human interaction picnics and treehouses instead of tablets and video games, Unfortunately, many children today would not pick up a cover that looks old, My tenyear old self never had a problem with that in fact, the older and more yellow paged the better but I was different than most, I hope somehow Scholastic reintroduces the book with a modern cover so today's kids can enjoy yesterday's good stories, .