Blue Willow - (Newbery Library, Puffin) by Doris Gates (Paperback)

About the Book

A little girl, who wants most of all to have a real home and to go to a regular school, hopes that the valley her family has come to, which so resembles the pattern on her treasured blue willow plate, will be their permanent home.

Book Synopsis

To Janey Larkin, the blue willow plate was the most beautiful thing in her life, a symbol of the home she could only dimly remember. Now that her father was an itinerant worker, Janey didn't have a home she could call her own or any real friends, as her family had to keep moving, following the crops from farm to farm. Someday, Janey promised the willow plate, with its picture of a real house, her family would once again be able to set down roots in a community.

Blue Willow is an important fictional account of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, and has been called The Grapes of Wrath for children. It won a Newbery Honor and many other awards.

Review Quotes

"This story, told with sensitive beauty, should widen the horizons of those who read it."--The Horn Book

About the Author

Doris Gates was a librarian and writer of children's fiction. Blue Willow was groundbreaking in its use of realistic storytelling for children. Doris Gates is also known for her collections of Greek mythology, including A Fair Wind for Troy.