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Summary
Summary
Ten-year-old Julia Gillian is a girl of many accomplishments. Among others, she is skilled in the Art of Knowing--about her quirky neighbours, her Minneapolis neighbourhood, even the inscrutable "claw machine" in the back of the corner hardware store. Unfortunately, the one skill Julia Gillian doesn't have is knowing how the book she's reading is going to end; it doesn't seem as if it's going to have a happy ending, and that frightens her. But being afraid teaches her something new: that having good friends and family around you makes life a bit less scary--and much more fun.
Author Notes
Alison McGhee lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
She is the recipient of a Loft-McKnight Fellowship, a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship, a 1995 Editor's Fiction Prize from Snake nation, and a Pushcart Prize honorable mention. Her title Bink and Gollie, Two for One with Kate DiCamillo made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012.
(Publisher Provided)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
McGhee's (Someday) utterly likable title character, nine-year-old Julia Gillian, is good at a number of things: making papier-mâché masks with her own special recipe for flour and water paste, and knowing what her aging St. Bernard, Bigfoot, is trying to say. She has also mastered the Art of Knowing, the ability to predict the daily routines of those around her. But during her summer break, her teacher parents are busy studying, and are unable to participate in the usual family visits to the water park or dinners at the Quang Restaurant. Ever resourceful, Julia Gillian walks around their Minneapolis neighborhood with Bigfoot, trying to add to her list of accomplishments as she interacts with neighbors and storekeepers. However, it seemed to be getting harder to master the things she wanted to master. Was this, too, something that happened when you got older?' And then there is the matter of the green book that her parents want her to finish reading. Her Art of Knowing has made Julia Gillian think that the book, about a dog just one year older than Bigfoot, might end unhappily, and the thought of finishing it scares her. Although at times her voice reads a little young, Julia Gillian's fears and their ultimate resolution are very relatable. The book is well paced, laced with line drawings that capture Julia Gillian's slightly whimsical personality, and overall as satisfying as the strawberry bubble tea served at the Quang Restaurant. Ages 9-12. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
(Primary, Intermediate) When banishing a half-read, anxiety-producing book to the fire escape and stacking cushions to block the view through the window doesn't alleviate nine-year-old Julia Gillian's apprehension, her babysitter lays out her options for her. "Are you going to risk an unhappy ending, or are you going to live in fear?" Is it better to finish the novel and know whether the "old broken dog" dies, or to try to duck the issue? Julia Gillian's avoidance strategy resembles Ramona's with her wild animal book in Ramona the Brave, and McGhee also channels Cleary in her affectionate depiction of Julia's busy but caring parents and the close-knit Minneapolis neighborhood through which she roams with her Saint Bernard, Bigfoot. In this welcoming, colorfully described environment, where the owners of the local hardware store and the baker at the bakery know her by name, Julia Gillian grapples with both concrete fears -- Bigfoot is almost the same age as the doomed dog in the book -- and abstract ones about war and global warming that enter via the newspapers her parents frown over every morning. Lively ink-and-pencil drawings show Julia making her rounds, wearing a fierce raccoon mask for courage and realizing that, while life doesn't always turn out the way she wants it to, that's okay. Her world is still filled with good things, not all of them expected. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
For nine-year-old Julia Gillian, life in Minneapolis has been nearly perfect. But as the summer progresses, that changes. Her parents are taking summer classes, which means no picnics at the park; the stuffed meerkat that Julia wants to win in the claw machine at the hardware store seems to elude her at every try; and the newspapers her parents read are filled with depressing headlines. And then there's the book Julia does not want to finish because she suspects it will have an unhappy ending. This gently told tale shows how she learns to deal with these bumps in the road. At times, her parents' lax attitude toward Julia's unsupervised wanderings may seem unrealistic, and Julia herself is a bit of an odd duck whose friends are mostly adults (except for one large, loving dog).Yet readers will root for Julia, whose appealing, if quirky, personality comes out in the plentiful sketches as well as the text. The first of an intended series.--Williams, Bina Copyright 2008 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-Nine-year-old Minneapolis resident Julia Gillian leads a comfortable urban life surrounded by caring parents and helpful neighbors. Her parents permit her to be on her own and take a nine-square-block walk for one hour with her devoted dog, Bigfoot. Each day, within these parameters, Julia Gillian explores her world. A pattern of repeated conversations, moods, and outcomes gives the child sufficient information to analyze the behavior of her neighbors, her dog, her parents, and herself. Her list of accomplishments includes making papier-m,chE animal masks and knowing how other people feel. When her parents insist that she finish reading a book about a boy and an old dog, she is sure it will have an unhappy ending and goes to great lengths to avoid it. Her neighbor tells her about her own demons and says that, "Sometimes the only way out is through," and Julia's self-absorption starts to recede as she discovers that she is not alone in being afraid. The illustrations of Julia Gillian's masks and supersize St. Bernard add a whimsical note to the book. Julia Gillian isn't the perky, smart-mouthed heroine one finds in many contemporary books. Instead, she is acutely conscious of achieving a new maturity that allows her to question authority and to assert herself-not bad for a nine-year-old.-Lillian Hecker, Town of Pelham Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Nine-year-old Julia Gillian goes out of her way to avoid unhappy endings. Fortunately there's a lot for Julia Gillian to be happy about, including her growing list of such personal accomplishments as making papier-mâch masks, spreading her gum evenly across her top row of teeth and her skill at the "art of knowing." Julia Gillian lives in a south Minneapolis apartment with her good-natured schoolteacher parents and her beloved St. Bernard, Bigfoot. Normally they spend summer vacations doing special things like visiting the water park and picnicking at Lake Harriet Rose Garden, but this summer her parents are busy studying, leaving Julia Gillian on her own. Even though she loves walking Bigfoot and visiting her neighbors, the resourceful Julia Gillian can't help thinking about the book with the unhappy ending she's afraid to finish. Decorated with Kozjan's swiftly drawn vignettes, the straightforward text, packed with daily details, seems directly descended from Beverly Cleary's works. A fresh, winsome heroine learns a lesson about facing her fears in this first of an anticipated series. (Fiction. 7-10) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
