When the River Ran Backward by Emily Crofford

“ No, I am brave.” When Coraline realizes that her other mother has not only stolen her real parents but has also stolen the souls of other children before her, she resolves to free her parents and to find the lost souls by matching her wits against the not-mother. This is Gaiman’s ( American Gods, 2001, etc.) first novel for children, and the author of the Sandman graphic novels here shows a sure sense of a child’s fears-and the child’s ability to overcome those fears. A drawing-room door that opens onto a brick wall becomes a natural magnet for the curious little girl, and she is only half-surprised when, one day, the door opens onto a hallway and Coraline finds herself in a skewed mirror of her own flat, complete with skewed, button-eyed versions of her own parents. 9-12)Ī magnificently creepy fantasy pits a bright, bored little girl against a soul-eating horror that inhabits the reality right next door.Ĭoraline’s parents are loving, but really too busy to play with her, so she amuses herself by exploring her family’s new flat. A well-wrought slice of rural Depression life. She portrays the struggle for survival without sentimentality. Crofford's spare prose evokes a vivid sense of time and place. The tension between illiterate Mama, clinging to their Tennessee past, and determined Talmadge, looking to a future in medicine, is particularly effective. Papa's anger and frustration, older sister Roseanne's piety, and Dwight's hostility are all skillfully drawn.

When little sister Missy is stricken with polio, the family recognizes that another move, this time to Memphis, will benefit Missy and be good for them all.

Handicapped by a club foot, and his ``hillbilly'' background, Talmadge wins acceptance from his peers and the right to stay in school in the face of opposition from his mother and resentful older brother Dwight. Language eng Summary In the process of coping with a series of earthquakes which strike the frontier town of New Madrid in 18, fifteen-year-old Laurel discovers an unexpected romance Member ofĬataloging source N$T Characteristic unknown Crofford, Emily Dewey number Interest level MG Reading level 6.In 1935, sixth-grader Talmadge McLinn (see also Stories from the Blue Road, 1982) and his family, having lost their Tennessee farm, are working on an Arkansas cotton plantation.

Earthquakes - Missouri | New Madrid - Fiction.

Earthquakes - Missouri | New Madrid - Juvenile fiction.

Label When the river ran backward Title When the river ran backward Statement of responsibility by Emily Crofford Creator

When the River Ran Backward by Emily Crofford