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Book Review of Amy Moves in

Amy Moves in
Amy Moves in
Author: Marilyn Sachs
Book Type: Paperback
DLeahL avatar reviewed on + 48 more book reviews


This book is suitable for young female readers ranging in age from about 8-11 years old, depending upon their reading abilities and personality. Although this particular book is about Amy, there are a few other books written about Amy's family and neighborhood.

These books are set in a Jewish neighborhood, somewhere in inner-New York City, in the 1950s (well, that's my impression of when they are set). However, even though the characters involved are drawn from a unique and small subset of society, the issues and obstacles addressed in them are universal.

Amy Moves In, as it focuses on Amy, centers mainly on Amy's feelings of sibling rivalry and her difficulty with schoolwork. Amy is the second of two daughters. Laura, the eldest, has been labeled by her family and school as "the smart one." Which leaves Amy, a year or two younger and with blue eyes and blond curly hair, the role of "the pretty one." Each label carries a subtext upon which both girls fixate: If Laura is brainy and Amy is pretty, then it stands to reason that Laura is a bit of a neb (Yiddish slang for nerd) while Amy is a ditzy flake.

The book begins with a clean slate for Amy upon which Amy begins the struggle to figure out who she is and where she fits into the family and the world. It is an honest book to which girls can relate.