Family tension revolves around Sarah's dream of becoming an artist, her restless older sister Fanny and her fragile younger brother Sammy. The neighborhood of Jane Addams' Hull House provides the background for 15-year-old Sarah and her immigrant family on the eve of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.
Knowing that Sadie Dreikurs was the subject of the book, her resilience was not in the least surprising. At the beginning of each school year, I would give this book to my social work intern to read as a good frame of reference. As a social worker working with severely developmentally disabled people, I had referred to the book often to find nonverbal activities to engage people who often couldn't speak. I found it exciting that I had actually read the fictionalized story of the author of Cows Can Be Purple. Only after I read the text did I see the author's not explaining that this book was a fictionalized account of her aunt, Sadie Garland Dreikurs who was an innovator in the then new field of art therapy.
This book was a beautifully written coming of age story. How she negotiates it all is a tribute to her own resilience. Sarah grapples with moral dilemmas amid a backdrop of poverty and turmoil. Her parents also have problems and so do most people around her. Meanwhile, Sarah's sister Fanny does the unthinkable - begins dating an Irish boy. Together they take art classes at Hull House, become involved with Jane Addams, and negotiate the difficult task of growing up. Living in the immigrant neighborhood of Hull House, she becomes friends with Bianca, a girl with even more family problems than she has.
Feeling unattractive and unlovable, Sarah leans on her father for love and support.
Sarah Goldman, who is 15 years old and a Jewish immigrant, feels that her mother rejects her while loving her 17 year old sister Fanny and four year old brother Sammy. This historical novel takes place in Chicago in the 189o's around the time of the World's Fair which enthralled the people of Chicago at a time when life was hard and there were few distractions. I don't usually read YA novels, but I'm glad that I read this one.
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