A Girl From Yamhill by Beverly Cleary

★★★★

*** Warning: This review contains spoilers! ***

I picked up this book to read aloud with Isabelle because I really, really enjoyed reading the Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins series with her. We both thought it would be fun to learn more about the author together.

This book was just on the verge of holding Isabelle's interest. It does not have a strong narrative flow besides being told chronologically. The author basically very matter-of-factly recounts a series of choppy remembrances from her childhood. While there is an occasional bit of self-analysis, mostly there isn't a lot of depth. But, there are plenty of interesting anecdotes, and overall, this book is a good read for any Beverly Cleary fan.

Some of the stories about the author's childhood on a farm, and the histories of her ancestors who ventured out west in covered wagons, were reminiscent of the Little House series, which Isabelle loves. It was fun to draw connections between Beverly Cleary's family's life and Laura Ingalls Wilder's family's life.

Every so often, especially in the earlier chapters, we were treated to childhood experiences that clearly served as inspiration for Ramona Quimby's behavior or other aspects of Beverly Cleary's books. Isabelle and I enjoyed making those connections, too.

It was fascinating to read a first-hand account of how different life was back in the 1920's and 1930's, particularly during the Depression. I like that Isabelle was exposed to a whole different way of life that was part of the American experience. Schools especially have changed quite a bit. The author really had quite a difficult childhood after her family moved to the city. She frequently felt out of place among her peers, she and her family constantly worried about money, and her parents seemed unhappy and were not demonstrably affectionate with each other or with their daughter. In some ways, it was sad to realize that the author of so many happy children's books felt so much unhappiness in her own childhood. I actually think the book showed Isabelle that she has a lot to appreciate, though I don't know if she really got that message.

This book is appropriately categorized as "Young Adult". I do think Isabelle got a lot out of this book, even though I ended up not reading every word verbatim. I had assumed that the categorization was based predominantly on the length of the book, vocabulary, and sentence structure; it didn't occur to me that this book might contain "mature content", which it does. Besides having to explain to Isabelle the meaning of concepts like "mortgage" and "the Great Depression" (suitable topics, but mostly above her head), I also had to gloss over, or skip entirely, parts that included ideas that she just isn't old enough for. In one case, I did read the questionable material (ad-libbing when necessary), and then used the author's experience as a springboard for discussion.

Specifically, these are the "Young Adult" a.k.a. "not for children" topics that are mentioned in the book:

• The book talks explicitly of Santa Claus's non-existence.
  
  
• The author had a creepy uncle who made sexual advances towards her. For the most part, this chapter remained "PG-rated", though the word "sex" did appear a couple times throughout the book.
  
  
• There is a brief mention of the fact that one of the author's friends had a father who committed suicide.
  
  
• One of the author's friends innocently uses the word "chippy" as short for "chipmunk", only to find out later that it is slang for "prostitute".

A couple times, Isabelle realized that I was not reading the book word for word, and apparently, that really bothered her. She felt like she was missing out on something. I just had to remind her that the book is for "Young Adults", and some ideas or words in the book just aren't appropriate for a child her age.

This book ends with Beverly Cleary going off to junior college. To learn about her adult life, I will have to read her other autobiography, My Own Two Feet. That book is also categorized as "Young Adult", and I plan to read it on my own, though Isabelle has already expressed that she would like me to tell her the highlights!