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Library | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... Monmouth Public Library | J Fic Ware, C. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Writing in her diary, twelve-year-old Venola Mae Cutright describes her trials and tribulations as she is forced to go live with her grandmother while she starts the seventh grade.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6A short, simple book full of humor and adolescent angst, this title presents two months from the journal of 12-year-old Venola Mae Cutright. The girl's elderly grandmother has just been widowed and Venola has been sentenced to spend her nights with the woman and her 13 cats in her trailer home in the Cutright's backyard. Bed at 7:30, no TV or music except for religious stations, no phone calls or friends visiting, seven nights a week. Readers may wonder why only Venola, of the six Cutright children, is subjected to this regimen. However, this is Venola's journal so readers don't hear from her parents, her siblings, her grandmother, or her friends. What they hear is Venola's voice loud and clear and it's one worth listening to. She is smart, curious, and funny. She does not like the cats at all, and she doesn't much enjoy her grandmother either. Over the course of the two months, she develops an appreciation for the woman even as she begins to notice her deterioration, and an affection for at least one of the cats. There are no surprises here, but it's an interesting coming-of-age story and Venola's cartoon line drawings add life and lightness to her tale.Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System, FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
After eleven-year-old Venola Mae Cutright's grandfather dies, her parents send her to stay nights with her grandmother, who lives with thirteen cats in a trailer in Venola Mae's back yard. As her grandmother's health declines due to the diabetes she's eventually diagnosed with, Venola Mae's diary entries record her problems and feelings in a lighthearted but realistic way. Childlike line drawings accompany many of the journal entries. From HORN BOOK Fall 1998, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
This is the journal of Venola Mae Cutright,"" begun the week after her much-feared Granddad has died, and maintained during her seventh-grade year while she adjusts to sleeping overnight, every night, in her lonely grandmother's trailer home (a ""brand-new, two-bedroom one, with avocado green carpet, curtains, and appliances"") that resides in the Cutright backyard. Among the many problems Venola Mae has with this arrangement are her grandmother's 13 cats, from whom she inherits a case of the fleas. With a wicked sense of humor, Venola Mae holds her own, despite her numerous insecurities, as it becomes increasingly clear that Grandma can no longer fend for herself. Neither Ware (Sea Monkey Summer, 1996) nor Yalowitz--in his comic black-and-white drawings that pepper the journal--strain credibility in portraying this as the work of a 12-year-old girl; Venola Mae's voice is consistently winning, even when she is exhaustively cataloging her fears and annoyances, the small injustices, doubts, and occasional moments of compassion that beset her. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 4-6. After her grandfather's death, 11-year-old Venola Mae begins a diary recording her feelings about the changes in her life. Her parents have decreed that she should spend every night with Grandma, who's afraid to live in her trailer alone. Grandma lives with 13 cats, watches only religious shows on television, and calls bedtime at 7:30. As the weeks go by, fleas take over the trailer, the smell of cat urine permeates the place, and in her increasing confusion, Grandma gets Venola Mae up in the middle of the night to serve her a breakfast of chocolate pudding and send her off to school. In the end, Grandma is diagnosed with diabetes, and Venola Mae is allowed to live at home again. If this sounds a bit heavy with problems, it's all delivered with a surprisingly light touch and accompanied by childlike ink drawings from the "diary." Ware captures many of the details of school life and pre-teen attitudes in a lively way, though the novel as a whole is less satisfying than its individual journal entries, which can be quite readable and entertaining. (Reviewed April 1, 1998)0531300676Carolyn Phelan