The Trouble with May Amelia

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   Hook:
         
            " You Fell In Again?!  Miss McEwing says when I walk into the schoolhouse,dripping wet.
              But Miss McEwing, I say.  I was trying to get Wendell's cap.
              She just shakes her head and says, I swear you spend more time in the water than on the water than on the boat, child.  Go and get something from the Dunking Box  before you catch a chill.
              The Dunking Box is a box of old clothes that Miss McEwing keeps in a corner in times like these.  They are all boys' clothes, of course,since there are all boys in the schoolhouse except for me, but that doesn't bother me on account that I wear overalls myself.  My Aunt Alice gave me a pretty new dress, but it's hard to climb a tree in a dress.
              The little potbelly stove is burning so that the schoolhouse is toasty, although it smells like the inside of a barn.  Most of the children must do the milking before school in the morning, including us.  If you close your eyes, you can almost hear the cows lowing along to Miss McEwing's lessons.
              Good Morning, Children, Miss McEwing says loudly.
              Good Morning, Miss McEwing, we say back.
              Miss McEwing is the sweetest teacher we ever had and she is also the prettiest one.  Eligible bachelors from all over the valley are always showing up at the schoolhouse hoping for a chance with her.  Wilbert says it will be a sad day when some man steals our teacher away, for married women aren't permitted to teach.
              The schoolhouse door opens and a little boy with blond hair in a bowl cut is shoved through.  He tries to run back but his mother shakes her head.
               Sina Menet kouluun!  She says in Finn which means You Go To School!
              The door shuts and the boy stands there with a belligerent look on his face.  Poor Charles Hasalm hates going to the schoolhouse because he doesn't know a lick of English and refuses to learn."    ( pages 17 and 18)
   
           Recommendation:
           
              Do you know what it's like to have seven brothers?  Well, poor May has to deal with seven naughty, mischievous brothers after her only sister, Amy dies of the bitter winter weather.  May has a lot to live up to.  May's teacher is Miss McEwing, and she is the prettiest and nicest teacher May has ever had.  When Papa invests for a gentleman, the gentleman steals all of their invested money and runs away.  So, now May has to make it right.  For a twelve year old, May's got more sisu- that's Finnish for "guts" than all seven boys put together.  The Trouble with May Amelia is a wonderful book, and I think you will find that May is a lot like you!

                                      If nothing is dropped, nothing will be found.
                                                     -Finnish proverb            

FYI: This book contains no quotation marks but has dialogue!

 

            Title:  The Trouble with May Amelia
            Author: Jennifer L. Holm
            Genre: Historical Fiction
            Blog by: Michelle D.