Helpful Score: 3
Katherine Paterson is one of our finest young people's authors. Don't look for happy solutions and easy to cope with stories. In this multiple award winning story about man's inhumanity to man the many facets are woven together into a story that will grab your attention and lead you into situations that are surprising but very much a part of the story. If you get it for your young person be sure to read it for yourself or you'll miss out on a reading treat. If I could give this book 6 stars I would.
Publishers Weekly
Abandoned as an infant, Jip West accepts his grim fate on a Vermont poor farm without question until a series of disturbing events changes his beliefs about himself and the people around him. The turning point occurs when, in the year 1855, Jip (who has a gift for "handling beasts and residents") becomes caretaker of a lunatic brought to the farm. The boy's growing friendship with the mysterious, moody man called Put coincides with Jip's discovery that his mother was a runaway slave. Tension mounts when Jip's biological father, the master of a Southern plantation, arrives to retrieve his "property." Like Paterson's Newbery-winning Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob Have I Loved, this historically accurate story is full of revelations and surprises, one of which is the return appearance of the heroine of Lyddie. While Jip's concerns provide insight into 19th-century society, his yearnings for freedom and knowledge are timeless. The taut, extremely readable narrative and its tender depictions of friendship and loyalty provide first-rate entertainment. Ages 10-14. (Oct.)
Abandoned as an infant, Jip West accepts his grim fate on a Vermont poor farm without question until a series of disturbing events changes his beliefs about himself and the people around him. The turning point occurs when, in the year 1855, Jip (who has a gift for "handling beasts and residents") becomes caretaker of a lunatic brought to the farm. The boy's growing friendship with the mysterious, moody man called Put coincides with Jip's discovery that his mother was a runaway slave. Tension mounts when Jip's biological father, the master of a Southern plantation, arrives to retrieve his "property." Like Paterson's Newbery-winning Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob Have I Loved, this historically accurate story is full of revelations and surprises, one of which is the return appearance of the heroine of Lyddie. While Jip's concerns provide insight into 19th-century society, his yearnings for freedom and knowledge are timeless. The taut, extremely readable narrative and its tender depictions of friendship and loyalty provide first-rate entertainment. Ages 10-14. (Oct.)
After tumbling off the back of a wagon, Jip was brought to the town poor farm. He has lived there ever since, content to do chores and tend animals--until the day the lunatic comes.
A good mystery for kids.
This is what it says on the back: After tumbling off the back of a wagon, Jip was brought to the town poor farm. He has lived there ever since, content to do chores and tend animals-until the day the lunitic comes. Caged like an animal, Put seems terrifying and less than human. But as the weeks pass, Jip sees Put as the wise man he truly is. And, when a menacing stranger comes to town, claiming to have been sent by Jip`s grieving father, Jip turns to his new friend to make sense of it all. With Put`s help, can Jip solve the riddle of his past?
Thanks
Thanks
Jip could not understand why no one had claimed him after he tumbled off a wagon on the West HIl Road when he was a small child. Brought to the town poor farm, Jip was content to tend the animals and do chores-until the day the lunatic arrived.. Put's rages in his padlocked wooden cage terrified the residents, but when the old man was lucid, he sang sweetly and let the boy take care of him.
I love this author. Jip is a wonderful story about freedom and identity. Worth reading.
This was a terrific and very surprising read... I enjoyed this book very much... The stories beginning set in 1847 in Vermont farm lands... The small town poor farm raises a baby found on the West Road... Believed to be a Gypsy baby fallen from a wagon on the way west... But, there isn't anyone who comes to reclaim the baby. Until a stranger comes to town asking questions about the boy Jip... What a surprise you will find when the plot is revealed... An Historical/Fiction... Katherine Paterson has out done herself here... Maybe Jip's Story will become a movie as Terabithia did...dg
After tumbling off the back of a wagon, Jip was brought to live at the town poor farm. He has been content to do chores and tend animals -- until the day the lunatic arrives. Put seems terrifying and less than human, but as the weeks pass, Jip sees the man he truly is. So, when a menacing stranger comes to town, claiming to have been sent by Jip's grieving father, Jip turns to his new friend to make sense of his past. Jip is another triumph from Katherine Paterson -- and fans of her Lyddie are in for a special surprise. " Like Paterson's Newbery-winning Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob Have I Loved, this historically accurate story is full of revelations and surprise...The taut, extremely readable narrative and its tender depictions of friendship and loyalty provide first-rate entertainment."-- Publishers Weekly, starred review " Maintains its riveting pace from the opening chapter to the final moment when the protagonist triumphs over adversity...Evokes the attitudes and social conditions of the times [1855-1856] in lucent prose."
Beautiful gift book.
Beautiful gift book.
Jip is a foundling and has spent all his life on the poor farm of a rural Vermont village in the pre-Civil War period. He's never been to school, but is very good with animals and farm work and with the poor souls who live on the poor farm - simpletons, lunatics and impoverished widows and their families. But then he discovers that his mother was a runaway slave, and her owner, also his biological father, intends to claim Jip as his property. If Jip escapes to Canada via the Underground Railroad, what will be come of all the people who depend on him? This short historical novel is intended for older children and young adults. Highly recommended.
This book is awesome. A story that shows one boys life living on the poor farm. The twist and turns in the story line keeps you hooked and not able to put down until you finish. An unexpected ending, what a great read
