Helpful Score: 10
I was swept up from the first page, as eager as the boys in the story to meet their new housekeeper that "doesn't bite"....and I fell in love with Rose and her brother just as quickly as the family does in a story that will surprise you with the twists it takes. A new look at the definitions of family and loyalty set quite believably at the dawn of the century in rural Montana.
Helpful Score: 6
A coming of age novel on the Montana plains at the beginning of the 20th century and the role of the one room school house in the community. His characters, dialog, language and plot are enchanting. I can't wait to read more of his books.
Helpful Score: 5
Wonderfully evocative ode to the one-room schoolhouses of early twentieth-century Montana. I fell in love with the Milliron family, dry-land farmers trying to make it after the death of their mother and the always whistling Rose Llewellyn who rescues them from the squalor of their all-male farmhouse and her brother Morris, who rescues their minds from the limitations of their country school.
Helpful Score: 3
When I was finished with this book, I went and revised my top 10 to add it - it's that good. Told from a boy's perspective, it's the story of a somewhat shady brother and sister who come to live in a small town in rural Montana in 1909. The effect these two have on the boy, his widowed father, and the rest of the town is best summed up by the synopsis on the publisher's website - this glimpse into a vanished way of life and eccentric characters is an unforgettable, charming tale of love and loss, truth and lies, and educationconventional and otherwise.
I wasn't familiar with Ivan Doig until this book, but look forward to reading more of his stuff. My husband, an ardent scifi reader, was equally charmed by this book, which is really saying something.
I wasn't familiar with Ivan Doig until this book, but look forward to reading more of his stuff. My husband, an ardent scifi reader, was equally charmed by this book, which is really saying something.
Helpful Score: 3
A wonderfully written book filled with humor and believable characters. A plot that doesn't rely on sex and/or violence - what a refreshing change! This is a book I would have read outloud to my children had I known about it earlier, but don't let that recommendation keep you from reading it - a great and fun read for all ages.
