Lowry, Lois Son, 400 p. Houghton, OCTOBER 2012. Content: G (Though I have rated this book G, any teacher should read the first two chapters about the Vessels and Birthmothers before they decide whether to read this with their class. Everything is very tastefully done, it’s just that I don’t think the topic is necessarily appropriate below the 6thgrade).
At the Twelve ceremony, Claire was assigned as a Birthmother, a job she gladly fulfilled, until complications with her first delivery – the baby is born healthy, but Claire is damaged and is reassigned to the fish hatchery. At her exit interview, however, she finds out that her baby was a boy – number Thirty-Six that year, just enough information to help make contact and form a bond with her baby boy in the nursery. Two years later, when Jonas takes the baby and escapes the settlement, Claire, in desperation, follows, determined to find her son no matter what. What follows is an agonizing journey of body and soul.
What can I say – I started reading at 9 pm and couldn’t go to sleep until I had finished. Lowry has written so many heart-rending scenes, so many times of introspection, and reacquainted us with some good friends. Even better – you don’t really need to have read the other three books to thoroughly enjoy this offering.
EL (6), MS, HS – ESSENTIAL. Cindy, Library Teacher
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