Book Review: Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham

*ARC provided by editor*

Leaving Gee's Bend is something Ludelphia Bennett never dreamed she'd do.  But, when her momma becomes sick, she decides to go for a doctor in the nearest town.  She will face a lot of detours and meet both good and bad people along the way.  She'll stitch each new experience into her quilt, but will she make it back in time to save her mother and the whole town?

Things I Liked:
I liked the way Ludelphia viewed life and people.  She still had a lot of innocence and was very sheltered, which made her very trusting.  It was also a interesting look at a place and time that we don't get a lot of in fiction (or maybe I just haven't read it).  I loved how Lu stitched her way through the difficulties and also found her bravery that way.  Interesting, simple story with a lovable character.  I think its simplicity belies some of its deeper meanings, though.

Things I Didn't Like:
I had a hard time wanting to read it.  While she had some adventures and I really did like Ludelphia, I did not feel very invested in the story.  The journey seemed a little too simple and I thought it was slow in parts, but more exciting in other parts.  I don't know how much children are going to want to read it, since it seems like adults will get more out of it.  I guess I was just expecting to be more wowed by it and it fell a bit flat for me. 

I think Abby (the) Librarian and Ari of Reading in Color wrote pretty much what I felt about the book - only much better.

Read-alikes:
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor 

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none

mrg-factor: none

v-factor: ->
there are some somewhat scary scenes

Overall rating: ***

Do you have a time period or place that you wish there were more books about?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage