Our Only May Amelia and The Trouble with May Amelia
Published by Harper Collins, Copyright 1999, this book is one of Jennifer L Holm's Newbery Honor books. This books, like many of the author's other novels weaves a little bit of family history into her fictional tale.
The main reason I love this books is for the humor she adds to each family member. Each character is believable including May Amelia's wicked grandmother, and her negative and often verbally abusive father.
The Trouble With May Amelia, Atheneum Books For Young Readers, Copyright 201l, is the sequel to to Our Only May Amelia, and in my opinion, I liked the it better than the original. This book had me laugh and cry within paragraphs of each other.
Set in the 1899's in Washington State, the story brings to life a Finnish Pioneer family's desire to make it in the United States along the banks of the Nasel River. May Amelia is the only girl to be born in this little Scandinavian settlement, and it is her determination to fit and be treated as an equal helps to make her voice strong.
However, one thing I've noticed in some of the books by this author is the easy way problems seem to be wrapped up in a quick, neat little bow. Sometimes in the publishing industry it is referred to as Deus Ex Machina, which is Latin for God From the Machine.
Currently, I am struggling with this in my novel, where all of a sudden my main character finally understands why she loves her family. In The Trouble with May Amelia, it is an "ah-ha" moment where Amelia has an idea that saves her family from financial ruin, and everyone (especially her father) all of a sudden appreciates her.
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