A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir by Beverly Cleary
by Sam Arnold-Boyd on Aug.18, 2008, under Adult Read, Battle of the Books 2008-2009, Biography or Autobigraphy, Sam's Reviews
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Who would like this books? Anyone – teens or adults – who read and enjoyed Beverly Clearly’s books (books like Henry Huggins or Ramona Quimby) when they were younger. It would also be a good read for people who are interested in becoming writers or for people who are interested in daily life in the 1920s and 1930s.
Why? Beverly Cleary is a very remarkable person and writer with an amazing memory. She is also honest and does not edit uncomfortable events out of this highly readable autobiography. I have to admit a special connection to her story. I grew up in Portland on 77th street a number of blocks south of her house, and I went to Camp Namanu and have visual memories of most of the landmarks that she describes. Even though I am a couple of decades younger than she is, her descriptions of neighborhoods, libraries, farms, and schools brought back personal memories for me. This memoir is not only engaging to read as the story of her life through her graduation from Grant High School and her move to California for college, it is also a valuable source of information about coming of age in the 1920s and early 1930s. The precision of her memory astounds me. Throughout the book, she sprinkles lists of the books that she and her friends were reading, along with their music, their dances, and their classes in school.Her assessment of the boys throughout the upper elementary grades is hilarious. Her honesty about a dangerous uncle and about other family difficulties are noteworthy. The story reminds me of her books, simultaneously heartwarming and heart-crunching,with hilarity woven into the telling of everyday events. My only wish is that she would have kep on going through her college years. I went to her website (http://www.beverlycleary.com/beverlycleary/index.html) for more of the story. This book is a great choice for the 2008-09 Battle of the Books list.
The details: 344p. 1988
