I loved, loved, loved Irene Hunt's Up A Road Slowly. Is it one of the best coming-of-age stories that I've read? Perhaps. At least one of the best I've read lately. I think out of all the Newbery books I've read this year (newly read as opposed to reread) this one would probably be my favorite and best. It reminded me--in a good way--of Good Morning, Miss Dove and Emily of New Moon.
Julie is the heroine of Up A Road Slowly. When we first meet Julie, she's a child: around seven years old. Her mom has just died, and her father is sending off his two youngest children to Aunt Cordelia. (The oldest, Laura, is in her final year of high school, I believe. Christopher is the brother.) How will Julie adapt to her move to the country? to her new house? to living with her aunt whom she barely knows? It isn't easy certainly. But truth be told, Julie would probably struggle some with her emotions no matter what.
So essentially, readers watch Julie grow from seven to seventeen (or eighteen) throughout the novel. Readers get to know Julie, Aunt Cordelia, and Uncle Haskell very, very well. One of my favorite things about the novel was it's characterization. Hunt did a great job at making her characters achingly human. Readers also get to know her classmates and friends.
Did I have a favorite character? Of course. I loved Julie, I did. And I am really, really happy with whom she ended up with. It made me giddy in fact. But I think my favorite character may just be Aunt Cordelia herself.
Have you read Up A Road Slowly? Did you like it? love it? hate it? I'd love to hear what you thought of it!
© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
1 comment:
I did love it, but my library copy was disgusting (some weird Gibraltar bound cover with water damage that made it wrinkly), and no one read it, so it's gone. It's very slow paced compared to books written today, so it's a tough sell. But those of us who like Montgomery and Alcott...absolutely!
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