Jacob Have I Loved

I have to admit that kept putting off reading Jacob Have I Loved because the cover on the copy I got from my library was so horrendous.

It's like something from a horror novel from the 1970's, isn't it? Caroline (the main character's twin sister) looks like a ghost.

However, even really bad covers can only keep me from reading something I've heard so much good about (check out this review*) for a while.

As soon as I started Paterson's book, I just wanted to keep reading it (though maybe with one of those stretchy cloth covers pulled over it). There was so much in this book: gorgeous descriptions of life in a small town and on an island, sibling rivalry, a demented grandmother, first love, the value of hard work, an examination of how we make choices about our lives, and judging other people's (especially your mother's) choices, gender roles, WWII....have I left anything out? Hmm, maybe a lot about crabs and oysters. Reading those parts was a bit like watching an episode of Dirty Jobs. Fun, and you learn a lot about a totally different way of life pretty painlessly.

Like Flusi, I did want more at the end of the book. Or a sequel, even, filling in Sara Louise's college years and her introduction to adult life in Appalachia. And I agree with Corinne, this book is definitely for older Newbery readers - say 13 and up. There are some pretty adult themes in Jacob, including a loss of faith (oops, forgot to add that in the list of things included above) and sexual awakening. A lot of the "gave it one star" reviewers on amazon hated both of those parts; I thought Paterson's description of the first stirrings of physical attraction were amongst the most beautiful, the most realistic, and conversely the most subtly portrayed and unique that I've ever read.

And is she right about February, or what?

I used to try to decide which was the worst month of the year. In the winter I would choose February. I had it figured out that the reason God made February short a few days was because he knew that by the time people came to the end of it they would die if they had to stand one more blasted day. December and January are cold and wet, but, somehow, that's their right. February is just plain malicious. It knows your defenses are down. Christmas is over and spring seems years away. So February sneaks in a couple of beautiful days early on, and just when you're stretching out like a cat waking up, bang! February hits you right in the stomach. And not with a lightning strike like a September hurricane, but punch after punch after punch. February is a mean bully (p. 79).

I also really enjoyed Jacob I Have Loved a huge amount in comparison to Up a Road Slowly, the last book I read. Both are coming of age stories about teen girls. It would be interesting to look at just how many of these Newbery winners fall into that genre - out of just the ones I've read, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Out of the Dust, The Midwife's Apprentice, Missing May, The Hero and the Crown, and Julie of the Wolves (and maybe Island of the Blue Dolphins?) all seem especially calculated to appeal to teenage girls. It seems that this is becoming more common in the past few decades, perhaps as children's literature becomes more specialized. Maybe there should be an award just for that? Something like the "Judy Blume award for capturing the anguish of adolescence" medal?

Anyway, Jacob Have I Loved would win that award, hands down.

When I was googling for the hideous cover above, I ran across Chesapeake Bay links for this book on the Library of Congress website. Very cool. And I was also very happy to see that recent covers are much less off-putting.

*Note how much better that early 80's cover is - though I think it is pretty inaccurate, in terms of what the girls wore in the 40's, and the clothes they describe in the book. Those look like 70's sundresses to me.

Jacob Have I Loved

Katherine Paterson is a storyteller and image maker. I, like others, loved this book. The topics covered were plenty and included: glorious details of life in a small water town around the Chesapeake Bay, the religious identity of a small town in America in the 1940s, small town reaction to World War II, gender issues, family relations - especially between twins who differ greatly, the magic of love, and last but certainly not least, the hard work involved in oystering and crabbing on our East Coast. Oh, yes and as a survivor of Dennis and Ivan along the Gulf Coast, the destructive and arbitray destruction of hurricanes.

I did find the book to be a bit unbalanced. We spend so much time learning to love Sara Louise, feeling empathy for her own awkwardness and self-doubt. We struggle with her as she moves through her life, half afraid and half daring. We want so much for her. The imbalance comes when she does strike out on her own and we do not find the detail or delight in her life. It is all much too brief. We do not learn about her academic experiences or her real life in the Appalachian mountains. Again, the midwife theme is here and Paterson shows what a needed and respected position Sara Louise occupies in her small town. But this is all too brief when it could have been rich and beautiful like the rest of the book. I loved the outcome but fought against the abrupt ending. I had to read the last chapter twice to make sure I understood what happened and did not miss something critical. I really could not believe the book was "done."

Favorite Quote: Crazy people who are judged to be harmless are allowed an enormous amount of freedom ordinary people are denied. (131)

Favorite Passage: When we left the gymnasium, the stars were so bright, they pulled me up into the sky like powerful magnets. I walked, my head back, my own nearly flat chest pressed up against the bosom of heaven, dizzied by the winking brillance of the night. "I wonder as I wander..." (30)

As a middle aged star gazer who is a little bit crazy, I can identify! The writing itself was very nice and I came to love the many characters in the book. This is one way I judge a book - did I fall in love? I did.

Flusi

Jacob Have I Loved

There are a few books that I really remember reading and enjoying as a young teen. Mrs. Mike. On Fortune's Wheel. But the one book that stands out most in my mind is Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson.

I have been mulling over why it is that this book appealed to me so much when I was young. I was so unsure of myself as a preteen/young teen. I was too tall, self-conscious, acne-ridden, you name it. I was so unhappy so much of the time. I lost myself in books and I luckily always counted my mother as a friend. The main character of this book, Louise, I think reminds me just so much of myself. Granted, I wasn't a twin, but I always felt like the world was against me and that I had nothing special to offer. Her feelings, even reading them now, are so familiar and comforting in the sense that I recognized that I was not alone. Her crabbiness was a bit damping when I read it this time - but it's probably that same crabbiness that made her such a relatable character to me when I was young. Strange that this book made me feel like I was not alone in my sorrow and loneliness.

Reading it through this time, probably for the first time in 12 or 13 years, I have a whole new appreciation for the work of art that it is. Paterson does a fine job of making the shore a tangible and real place. I enjoyed learning about crabbing and oystering, she mentions terrapins (go TERPS!!) and Louise even ends up at the University of Maryland, my alma mater. I feel even more connected to this book now as I did then. The final chapter is heartbreakingly beautiful to me - I would even sometimes just pull out the book and read just that chapter a couple of times. It gave me such hope to see Louise happy, having finally found the courage to take a chance, and find herself and a place where she belongs. Reading it again was comfort food.

I will say, however, that the book feels a bit mature to me for the Newberry Award. I always felt like that award was for older children, but this definitely feels like a book for teens. I can't see it being read out loud at all in an elementary school classroom, or even studied in elementary school. The themes of love (she falls in love with an OLD man) and the harshness of her grandmother's criticism are fairly adult (her grandmother is a bit senile and accuses Louise's mother of being a whore). I think I may have just misunderstood the age of the audience that the award is geared towards - or, possibly, the age of the audience is just not really a deciding factor in deciding who wins the award. At any rate, a great read for me, then and now.