Hitty: Her First Hundred Years, Newbery Winner 1930

 I've been saying that some of these older winners were in need of a re-write and this one actually has one!

I've got... notes. Let's start with the original text. First, congratulations to Rachel Field for being the first woman to win a Newbery. Although it took 8 years for the first it is pretty hard to accuse the committee of sexism when you consider that every winner from the 30s was written by a woman. Fields had a rather interesting life and many older readers of the Newberys list her among their favorite authors. I thought her writing was rather nice - I struggled with some of the dialects and vocabulary, but that is to be expected with a text this old. 

Most of the time the plot was interesting enough, but one can't help but notice certain things that would never fly in modern kids' lit. Yes, we've circled back round to racism. Though not as mean-spirited as the racism in Smoky it is still present. In the very beginning of the book Phoebe, one of Hitty's owners, is scared by some Native Americans while out picking berries,

"They were only some five or six squaws in moccasins, beads, and blankets, who had come after raspberries, too... I watched them filling their woven baskets and thought they looked very fat and kind, though rather brown and somewhat untidy as to hair" (Fields 20).

 After that paragraph the book continues on without incident for a while and I found myself thinking that, at least, it had been short and although cringeworthy not mean-spirited. Just wait. 

    The premise of the story is that Hitty, a carved wooden doll, is writing her memoirs when she is around one hundred years old. The story begins with her being carved in 1829 for Phoebe Preble, a young girl in Maine. This owner has the largest part of the text devoted to her, with 40% of the book being about her time belonging to Phoebe. Phoebe brings Hitty with her on a whaling ship captained by her father. When the crew mutinies and the ship catches fire the Prebles and a few loyal crew members are castaway on a South Pacific Island. This is when I had to give myself a little break from the book because, well, just read.

"Look they certainly did. I have never seen so many bright, black eyes in so many peering faces. I caught sight of nose rings and earrings under matted hair, of carved necklaces and bands of metal on wrists, arms, and ankles... 'They act like a parcel of children,' Captain Preble said, 'and I hope to glory they stay so.' Like children they easily tired of what had caught their attention, so next it was Phoebe about whom they began to crowd... and the biggest native with the most rings and beads on now caught sight of me between her fingers. He made a queer grunting noise at the rest and they all crowded about, pointing and gesticulating" (Fields 78-79).

Jeepers, if this doesn't illustrate a by-gone way of thinking about non-white culture that what ever could? How about the end of the chapter.

"At another grunt from him all the natives bowed their heads before me and went through more strange gesturings - and so I was carried away to become a heathen idol" (Fields 81). 

In the end she makes her way back to Phoebe in time for them to leave the island a join a ship sailing to India, however in India she is dropped by a sleeping Phoebe. After this beginning she bounces from one owner to the next every chapter or so. There are a few cultural missteps in the writing, Indians in great need of converting and the Southern US black dialect being the two I most noticed, but nothing ever approaches the uncomfortableness of the South Pacific chapters. A quick list of Hitty's owners:

• Phoebe Preble - whaling captain's daughter
• unnamed Indian snake-charming performer
• Thankful - daughter of missionaries to India
• Clarissa Pryce - Quaker girl in Philadelphia (took Hitty to listen to famous singer Adelina Patti, and also showed her to the poet John Whittier)
• Milly Pinch - seamstress
• Isabella Van Rensselaer - rich girl in New York City (met Charles Dickens who picked Hitty up)
• Katie (Dooley?) - Irish girl from Rhode Island who takes Hitty to Kansas when she goes West to regain her health
• Mr. Farley - traveling artist 
• Miss Hortense and Miss Annette - loaned to by Mr. Farley to use as a dress model for cotton exposition
• Sally Loomis - daughter of a Mississippi river boat captain
• Caroline - girl living on a southern plantation along the Mississippi River
• Charlie - postman that buys Hitty's box from the dead-letter office - immediately loses her
• Jim's wife - uses Hitty to practice making a pincushion with a doll body
• Louella - receives Hitty pincushion for birthday
• Miss Pamela - doll collector
• Old Lady - antique collector that happens to live in the Preble's old house in Maine
• Old Gentleman - owner of antique shop in New York City

Overall a decent read, though I preferred the same concept done recently with The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Katie DiCamillo. Sometimes the writing style in this one just really slowed things down - and this from someone who reads a fair amount of older books. It could also be that I was never really a 'doll girl'.

Okay - now the rewrite, adaptation, homage, whatever you want to call it.

Rosemary Wells, of Max and Ruby fame, explains that Hitty was one of her favorite books growing up. She was asked by Susan Jeffers, another fan of the book to shorten the text for an illustrated storybook she wanted to do. While Wells initially didn't want to she found that many libraries hadn't circulated the book very much in decades. So here we are. 

I always flop back and forth on the subject of abridgment. But I think it can be done well - Wells strips the beginning of its more problematic views on other cultures and tosses outdated vocabulary out in favor of more recognizable words. Abridging can also cause problems- also lost is the conflict on the whaling ship, a great many descriptive passages, and a better sense of 100 years, but most egregious is when Wells didn't just adapt the story - she straight up rewrote it. 

Adapting changes the story all the time - but generally it does it within the change of a medium. Movies are often different than their books - but as a different medium it can sometimes be necessary - at any rate you are now targeting a different audience. This is a book adaptation of a book that is only half the original book. And I don't really know why.

Notes on the aforementioned racism - the Native Americans at the beginning of the story now are now described in one sentence, "Only Penobscot women knew about this berry patch and picked there." Wow... somehow even shorter than the original's few pages - but non-offensive I guess. For some reason the tribe has been changed from Passamaquoddy to Penobscot. The South Pacific Islanders also fair better, the Preble's still do not understand what is going on, but Hitty is taken not as a god but as a gift for the chief's son. She isn't viewed by worshippers but by friends of the boy.

There also exists in this book a small necklace with an elephant on it that Hitty is made by Captain Preble. Why? 

So let's run down the list of owners - I assure you it takes a turn. 

• Phoebe Preble
• unnamed Indian snake-charming performer
• Thankful
• Clarissa Pryce - who takes her to see Abraham Lincoln (?????)
• Sergeant Jim Chapelle - a Confederate soldier tasked with going through mail, she becomes a post office mascot
• Mary Chestnut - encourages her seamstress, Millie Nettletree, make a dress for Hitty to wear to the Cotton Expo and win a prize to send Millie's granddaughter to school
• Sally Loomis
• Caroline
• Mr. Copley - traveling artist that takes Hitty with him to paint a portrait of the Roosevelt children
• Rebecca Solomon - young art admirer that is homeschooled because she uses a wheelchair
• Mr. D'Ardsley - owner of New York City Antique/ Pawn shop
• Parthenia Nettletree - granddaughter of Millie who indeed went to school, in process of paying for Hitty as the book ends

Some of the streamlining I get... but not other bits. Halfway through adapting the story Rosemary Wells begins writing a brand-new story using Field's original characters. It's good, but it seems very unnecessary and if I were a bigger fan of the original I'd probably be more angry. 

Overall, I wish the rewrite had stuck to the second half more faithfully and then I could easily recommend it. As it is, it is a good story - but not the one the author originally conceived. 

The Grey King, Newbery Winner 1976

 The Grey King is the fourth book in the series sequence The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper. It falls back into the good old-fashioned fantasy story. Unlike The Prydain Chronicles, I believe each book stands on its own slightly better, but in order to be their best should still be read as a series. From the beginning!

Over Sea, Under Stone (1965)

I really liked this one. As I went through the series I kept comparing them to this first book which is so entirely different from the rest of the series that it really isn't a fair comparison. This book has shades of Narnia (which is my jam) - a group of siblings, England, mythology, and a quest. The siblings in question are Simon, Jane, and Barney Drew - they are spending their holidays on the coast of Cornwall in a house rented by their family friend Merriman Lyon (they often refer to him as their Great-Uncle, though the book is adamant that they are unrelated). They find a map that leads them to a mysterious grail, but they have to stay one step ahead of shady characters every step of the way. Although the sequence as a whole is fantasy this one falls more into contemporary literature/ mystery with a few fantasy elements. 

When read on it's own it stands fairly well but you get the feeling that it is part of a larger series. However, I can't confirm if this was always the intention since the next book is a different tone, with different characters (save Merriman), and was published 8 years later!

The Dark Is Rising (Newbery Honor 1973)

Yes, the second book shares its name with the entire series. The book introduces the main hero Will Stanton and cements the overarching themes and plot for the series. It is consistently found on lists of 'Best' Books - be it best books for children, best Newbery books, best books for the classroom, etc... Of course all this means that I thought the book was - okay. I preferred the slightly lighter fare of Over Sea, Under Stone and really missed the Drew siblings. Will doesn't really have anyone to work off a lot of the time and when he does it is almost always adults (in spite of the large number of siblings available).
Will, the seventh son of a seventh son, discovers on his 11th birthday that he is the last of the Old Ones, a group of immortals who are tasked with being guardians of 'the Light'. He begins a quest to gather six signs together and temporarily drive back 'the Dark'. I just don't understand how this book is so popular and loved when virtually every other book in the series is better.

Greenwitch (1974)

This book is the shortest and many don't seem to care for it much. It brings the Drew siblings back (yay!) and has them join Merriman and Will (meh) to try to find the grail (again). Will has been trained enough at this point that he should be able to translate the mysterious markings on the grail and reveal its secrets. Jane is the only child in this volume that doesn't act like a total nincompoop throughout. Anyway she sees the creation of the Greenwitch and her natural instinct towards compassion and empathy is what in fact ends up saving the day.

The Grey King (Newbery Winner 1975)

Finally! This is the book that made Will Stanton interesting enough to carry a book, all it took was him having other people to work off of without being a nincompoop. This book won two awards the Newbery (best contribution to American children's literature) and the Tir na n-Og Award (best children's book with an authentic Welsh background. Yes, dear reader, our fantasy is headed back to Wales! Will is sent to his aunt in Wales to recover after a long illness, he befriends a local boy named Bran and involves him in his newest mission from Merriman. This book really ramps up the Arthurian influence which always makes for good fantasy. I can definitely see why this book (or even the next) would be winning books. I think this book would stand just fine on its own, though you'd feel a touch unfulfilled at the end. This book accomplishes two things: It makes me want to visit Wales and it makes me want to traditional classic Welsh mythology.

Silver on the Tree (1977)

This is the epic crossover event where all of our characters are brought together and so many plots are finally wrapped up. My only wish is that the Drew siblings had more to do in this volume. One of the things I liked most about Greenwitch was that it was just Jane being herself and being kind that saved the day. This shows just how much power ordinary people (even children) hold against the Dark. However, I am totally sold on the conclusion and would hate to spoil certain aspects, but something I really like is the fact that there are actual consequences, there are difficult choices, and there is a train. How many fantasy epics end with a train ride?

Overall I'd recommend this series to fans of Arthurian legends, the British Isles, children's books, or fantasy series. It was not my favorite series but it was serviceable and remains highly popular half a century after its initial publications.

A Single Shard, Newbery Winner 2002

 

Linda Sue Park is a celebrated author that often incorporates her Korean heritage into her books she has written six novels in the last two decades and this... I the only one I've read. I really enjoyed this story and if I could draw a quick comparison it reminded me of a Studio Ghibli film. Not the content or character - but the pacing. It is not super plot driven, and the characters, though nice, aren't strong enough to be a massive driving force in the plot. This a just a slice of Tree-Ear's life that was particularly important to his life's journey.

Tree-Ear is an orphan in 12th century Korea living with his caretaker Crane-Man near a potters' settlement. He often observes one potter working and wishes to become his apprentice. When he begins doing chores to pay off a debt he finds himself learning more and more but feeling frustrated that he isn't being instructed how to make truly amazing items. Though the eventual conclusion of this novel went pretty much exactly how one would imagine it took some interesting paths to get there.

Once again I found it helpful to have Google handy while reading. I know very little about modern Korea and even less about olden Korea. The special pottery talked about in the book is celadon - in fact the book was inspired by a specific piece hailed as one of the finest examples of Korean artistry. Overall, I would greatly encourage anyone to read this book.