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Summary
Summary
When twelve-year-old Willa Jo climbs onto the roof at Aunt Patty's house to see the sunrise, she never expects the conflicted feelings she's had for three weeks to crystallize into a stubbornness that will keep her there all day. But once she's up there, Willa Jo can't seem to come down. Coming down means having to explain herself. And ho can she explain?After Baby died, Little Sister stopped talking. Then Aunt Patty took the girls away from Mom to give her time to pull herself together. Aunt Patty has a million rules about everything, and she seems to have forgotten that Willa Jo and Little Sister are trying to cope with loosing Baby, too. And missing Mom something fierce.In this beautifully-structured novel-which takes place all in one day-two generations of big sisters struggle with what being a big sister means. Couloumbis masterfully shows us the pervasive feelings that can take hold when tragedy strikes and the slow, subtle healing that comes when one can finally get near to the source.
Reviews (6)
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate, Young Adult) As the novel opens, Willa Jo is sitting on the roof watching the sunrise-""a thin rim of orange-red, so deep and strong my heart almost breaks with the fierceness of that color."" Little Sister sits beside her; she follows Willa Jo everywhere and ""hasn't said word one since Baby died."" Aunt Patty is horrified to discover the girls on the roof, and Willa Jo can't even give her a reason for being there. The story unfolds by moving backward from this point, but only a piece at a time. First, to the day the girls arrive at Aunt Patty's, where no one uses the front door and you only walk on the plastic runners laid over the carpet. Several chapters on, Willa Jo recalls the days at home with Mama after Baby died, when the house was a shambles and they kept irregular hours, but found some solace in sleeping all together and watching the sun rise and set each day-until Aunt Patty swoops in and declares Mama unable to care for the girls and in need of rest. The measured pace of the narrative suits the Southern summer setting of some thirty years ago and allows ample time for getting acquainted with reflective, headstrong Willa Jo; silent Little Sister, always watching carefully for clues to understanding why someone dies; and well-meaning but insufferably bossy Aunt Patty. Willa Jo cracks, ""It wasn't enough Aunt Patty had her own opinion, she liked to have everyone else's, too."" But Willa Jo is a solid match for Aunt Patty, walking out on the horrible Bible school camp Patty sends them to and choosing her own friends from the Finger children across the way, who Patty says are ""let to run wild."" Throughout Willa Jo's struggles with Aunt Patty, there are signs of the terrible tragedy that has befallen the family, but only toward the end of the book does Willa Jo's narrative take us back to the day that Baby died (from drinking tainted water at a carnival). When we finally meet the sweet, curly-haired toddler, we know her death will break our hearts along with her family's. The author's plainly worded but evocative descriptions give life to the characters and tender poignancy to even simple observations, like the ""sweet curve"" of a child's neck that makes Willa Jo ""miss Baby something fierce."" Patty's misguided attempts at social improvement and the girls' lively new friendship with the Finger family lend some lightness to the story, which above all honors the importance of finding one's own way through grief. l.a. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6-8-A touching examination of grief and healing, of the affects of a tragedy on a family, and of loss and acceptance. Willa Jo Dean, one week shy of her 13th birthday, crawls onto the roof of Aunt Patty's house to watch the sunrise. Little Sister follows her, as always. Much to Aunt Patty's chagrin, the sisters stay on the roof, ignoring her pleas and threats to come down. The novel encompasses one day's sunrise to sunset. In a series of flashbacks, Willa Jo tells of the death of Baby from drinking tainted water at a carnival, of their mother's blaming herself and incapacitating grief, and of Little Sister's refusal to talk. The girls have been taken to their aunt's house, where they have spent an uncomfortable three weeks, missing their mother, their baby sister, and being at odds with the well-intentioned yet bossy and humorless Aunt Patty. By day's end, the girls are reunited with their mother, reconciled with their aunt, and realize that death is not to be feared, that life is short, and that love brings healing. Couloumbis's writing is strong; she captures wonderfully the Southern voices of her characters and conveys with great depth powerful emotions. Indeed, this is a book about feelings and relationships, and the reverent tone and child-focused attempts to understand the unknowable ring true in a deeply satisfying manner. While the lack of action as well as the nonchronological flashbacks may prove a challenge for some youngsters, this is a compelling novel that will speak to special readers.-Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Library Journal Review
Gr 6-8-When their baby sibling dies, two sisters are sent to stay with their domineering Aunt Patty. A poignant and uplifting novel told from a child's wise and down-to-earth perspective. (Oct.) (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
"Couloumbis deftly constructs an intricate montage of thoughts and memories from the perspective of 12-year-old Willa Jo Dean who, with Little Sister, mourns the death of their baby sister," said PW in a starred review. Ages 10-14. (Aug.)n (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Gr. 5^-9. When their baby sister dies and their mother slips into a depression, 12-year-old Willa Jo and Little Sister are taken to live with their mother's older sister. Aunt Patty is a take-charge kind of person--good-hearted but bossy. It doesn't take long for Willa Jo, herself an older sister, to get fed up her with her aunt's ideas of what's good for her nieces. That's not why the girls wind up out on the roof, but it may be why they refuse to come back into the house. Don't ask Little Sister for the answer, though; she stopped talking when Baby died. No amount of cajoling will force her to speak, but Willa Jo is eloquent enough for both. Set in North Carolina, the story is told in Willa Jo's distinctly Southern voice, a treat to hear but sometimes too adult to believe. The characters are credible, though, engaging and multidimensional. So is their grief and the ways they deal with it so they can, once again, get "near to Baby." Couloumbis' first novel wears its heart on one sleeve and its humor on the other. Together, they make a splendid fit. --Michael Cart
Kirkus Review
Couloumbis's debut carries a family through early stages of grief with grace, sensitivity, and a healthy dose of laughter. In the wake of Baby's sudden death, the three Deans remaining put up no resistance when Aunt Patty swoops in to take away 12-year-old Willa Jo and suddenly, stubbornly mute JoAnn, called ``Little Sister,'' in the misguided belief that their mother needs time alone. Well-meaning but far too accustomed to getting her way, Aunt Patty buys the children unwanted new clothes, enrolls them in a Bible day camp for one disastrous day, and even tries to line up friends for them. While politely tolerating her hovering, the two inseparable sisters find their own path, hooking up with a fearless, wonderfully plainspoken teenaged neighbor and her dirt-loving brothers, then, acting on an obscure but ultimately healing impulse, climbing out onto the roof to get a bit closer to Heaven, and Baby. Willa Jo tells the tale in a nonlinear, back-and-forth fashion that not only prepares readers emotionally for her heartrending account of Baby's death, but also artfully illuminates each character's depths and foibles; the loving relationship between Patty and her wiser husband Hob is just as complex and clearly drawn as that of Willa Jo and Little Sister. Lightening the tone by poking gentle fun at Patty and some of her small-town neighbors, the author creates a cast founded on likable, real-seeming people who grow and change in response to tragedy. (Fiction. 11-13)
Excerpts
Excerpts
Things don't feel right here. I want to open my eyes in the morning to see my very own wallpaper with the tiny blue flowers and pink rosebuds. Aunt Patty does not believe in putting up wallpaper, not even in the bathroom. She says mold grows behind it. I want Mom to read to us for an hour before bedtime, all of us in a clump like alligators in the sun so we can all look at the pictures together. Aunt Patty tucks us into bed before it is even full dark. We want our mom. We're worried about her having to sleep all alone. We worry that she doesn't eat right, now that she doesn't have us to feed. We miss her. I hear Aunt Patty's bossy voice, rousing Uncle Hob out of his bed. She's telling him he has to come outside to order us down. Or to plead with us, whichever he thinks will work. That sad feeling I have hardens into a mad feeling and I don't think I'll ever get down off this roof. I'll stay here till kingdom comes. Excerpted from Getting near to Baby by Audrey Couloumbis All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
Table of Contents
| 1 Early Morning | p. 1 |
| 2 Birds of a Feather | p. 6 |
| 3 The Trouble with Aunt Patty | p. 10 |
| 4 Don't Do This, Don't Do That | p. 17 |
| 5 A Tough Nut to Crack | p. 24 |
| 6 Forbidden Friends | p. 33 |
| 7 After Baby Died | p. 42 |
| 8 Seeing the Excavation | p. 51 |
| 9 Two Peas in a Pod | p. 67 |
| 10 Mrs. Wainwright's Daughter | p. 78 |
| 11 Aunt Patty's Great Idea | p. 89 |
| 12 A Day at Bible School | p. 95 |
| 13 The Way Things Sometimes Work Out | p. 104 |
| 14 The Piggly Wiggly Pickle | p. 114 |
| 15 Second Thoughts | p. 126 |
| 16 A Day at the Fair | p. 134 |
| 17 Until Milly Came | p. 145 |
| 18 Seeing Baby Off to Heaven | p. 154 |
| 19 Aunt Patty's Arrival | p. 163 |
| 20 Uncle Hob | p. 167 |
| 21 The Last Straw | p. 174 |
| 22 Talking Things Over | p. 180 |
| 23 Aunt Patty Stands Alone | p. 184 |
| 24 Aunt Patty Sees the Light | p. 191 |
| 25 The End of a Long Wait | p. 210 |
