Synopsis
Winner of the 2005 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award
It is 1901 and Mable Riley dreams of adventure and of becoming a writer. When her older sister leaves home to become a schoolmistress in the small town of Stratford, Ontario, Mable is sent along too. Mable hopes her new world will be full of peril and romance. But life at the Goodhand Farm (where the sisters board), is as humdrum as the one she’s left behind.
Then Mable encounters the mysterious Mrs. Rattle, a peculiar widow with a taste for upsetting the townspeople with her strange opinions. Mrs. Rattle is a real writer, and Mable eagerly accepts her invitation to a meeting of the Ladies Reading Society. But the ladies are not discussing books at all, and Mable may soon have more peril than she’d bargained for!
Composed of the letters Mable sends home, the poems she writes for her classmates, and chapters from her own work-in-progress, Mable Riley is the funny, inspiring, (and reliable) record of a young girl finding her voice, and the courage to make it heard.
From the Hardcover edition.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
..."a lovely addition to the...tradition of Canadian historical fiction for girls... Rather than struggling within a diarist's constraints...Jocelyn seamlessly slides into the first-person narrative of a conventional novel... [Jocelyn] is a quietly confident storyteller."
-"Quill & Quire
"
..."this novel is a delightful elixir of "Little House on the Prairie" and "Anne of Avonlea..".."
-- "School Library Journal"
..." a funny and inspiring tale of a young girl finding her voice and the courage to make it heard.... This book makes the early suffragette history engaging and entertaining, and it will be enjoyed by all who read it."
--" VOYA"
" Mable Riley is absolutely charming. Her journal is funny, compassionate, and rich in detail about the everyday lives, the dreams, and the courage of ordinary people. I loved meeting Mable." -- Karen Cushman, author of THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE, winner of the 1996 Newbery Medal, and CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY, a 1995 Newbery Honor Book -- Karen Cushman, author of THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE, winner of the 1996 Newbery Medal, and CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY, a 1995 Newbery Honor Book
" Mable Riley is the best of everyday heroines-imaginative and funny, a thinker and a dreamer. Readers will laugh out loud at her Anne-of-Green-Gables hijinks, and cheer her independent thinking all the way." -- Megan McDonald, author of the best-selling Judy Moody series -- Megan McDonald, author of the best-selling Judy Moody series
" Three cheers for Mable Riley and a hurrah for author Marthe Jocelyn. . . . Mable is a force, albeit a very humorous one. . . . Readers will delight in and applaud Mable finding her voice ' singing like rain and hollering like thunder.' " -- Ken Setterington, Children and Youth Advocate for Library Services, Toronto Public Library and co-author of A GUIDE TO CANADIAN CHILDREN'S BOOKS -- Ken Setterington, Children and Youth Advocate for Library Services, Toronto Public Library and co-author of A GUIDE TO CANADIAN CHILDREN'S BOOKS
" [A] wry, perceptive novel . . . As an aspiring writer, tart, determined Mable Riley rarely wants for words, and her love of the grand gesture -- and the truth -- mark her as a heroine readers will surely take to heart." -- Leonard Marcus, author ofMARGARET WISE BROWN: AWAKENED BY THE MOON -- Leonard Marcus, author of MARGARET WISE BROWN: AWAKENED BY THE MOON
"Mable Riley is absolutely charming. Her journal is funny, compassionate, and rich in detail about the everyday lives, the dreams, and the courage of ordinary people. I loved meeting Mable." -- Karen Cushman, author of THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE, winner of the 1996 Newbery Medal, and CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY, a 1995 Newbery Honor Book -- Karen Cushman, author of THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE, winner of the 1996 Newbery Medal, and CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY, a 1995 Newbery Honor Book
"Mable Riley is the best of everyday heroines-imaginative and funny, a thinker and a dreamer. Readers will laugh out loud at her Anne-of-Green-Gables hijinks, and cheer her independent thinking all the way." -- Megan McDonald, author of the best-selling Judy Moody series -- Megan McDonald, author of the best-selling Judy Moody series
"Three cheers for Mable Riley and a hurrah for author Marthe Jocelyn. . . . Mable is a force, albeit a very humorous one. . . . Readers will delight in and applaud Mable finding her voice 'singing like rain and hollering like thunder.'" -- Ken Setterington, Children and Youth Advocate for Library Services, Toronto Public Library and co-author of A GUIDE TO CANADIAN CHILDREN'S BOOKS -- Ken Setterington, Children and Youth Advocate for Library Services, Toronto Public Library and co-author of A GUIDE TO CANADIAN CHILDREN'S BOOKS
"[A] wry, perceptive novel . . . As an aspiring writer, tart, determined Mable Riley rarely wants for words, and her love of the grand gesture -- and the truth -- mark her as a heroine readers will surely take to heart." -- Leonard Marcus, author of MARGARET WISE BROWN: AWAKENED BY THE MOON -- Leonard Marcus, author of MARGARET WISE BROWN: AWAKENED BY THEMOON
From the Inside Flap
It is 1901 and Mable Riley dreams of adventure and of becoming a writer. When her older sister leaves home to become a schoolmistress in the small town of Stratford, Ontario, Mable is sent along too. Mable hopes her new world will be full of peril and romance. But life at the Goodhand Farm (where the sisters board), is as humdrum as the one she's left behind.
Then Mable encounters the mysterious Mrs. Rattle, a peculiar widow with a taste for upsetting the townspeople with her strange opinions. Mrs. Rattle is a "real writer, and Mable eagerly accepts her invitation to a meeting of the Ladies Reading Society. But the ladies are not discussing books at all, and Mable may soon have more peril than she'd bargained for!
Composed of the letters Mable sends home, the poems she writes for her classmates, and chapters from her own work-in-progress, "Mable Riley is the funny, inspiring, (and reliable) record of a young girl finding her voice, and the courage to make it heard.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
