23. All-of-a-Kind Family

All-of-A-Kind-Family. Sydney Taylor. 1951. 192 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: "That slowpoke Sarah1" Henny cried. "She's making us late!" Mama's girls were going to the library, and Henny was impatient.

Premise/plot: Ella (12), Henny (10), Sarah (8), Charlotte (6) and Gertie (4) are sisters that make up [part of] an "all-of-a-kind family."  The book is set in the Lower East Side of New York City at the turn of the twentieth century. It chronicles the adventures of a Jewish family in the course of a year (or most of a year). The book opens with a bittersweet library visit and ends with the birth of a new sibling! There are highs and lows.

My thoughts: I love this book. I'm excited to read all the sequels. I remember reading this one a few times as a kid. This is my second time, I believe, to read it as an adult. (I first blogged about it in 2008). I enjoy the storytelling and characterization. I love the old-fashioned, traditional feel. I think it has acquired that through the decades. It wasn't particularly 'traditional' at the time it was published. I was reading the introduction to the one of the sequels and it was pointing out all the ways this book was 'novel' aka "new" and unconventional.

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