At fifteen, Emma Meade is old enough for just about anything. Old enough to leave school, old enough to help around the farm, and old enough to notice when handsome Cole Berry takes an interest in her.

But is fifteen old enough to fall in love? Emma's father doesn't think so, and when Cole starts spending time with her, Papa forbids Emma to see him again. Will Cole wait for Emma to get older? Or will he turn his attentions elsewhere?

This heartwarming story by Johanna Hurwitz transports readers to the countryside of Vermont in 1911, where the Meade family battles harsh weather, and weathers good and bad times together. Old friends of Emma's -- who met her in Faraway Summer -- will be delighted to read more about her life, while new friends will relish this warm, genuine romance with all their hearts.

ANNOTATION

In the summer of 1910, Dossi, a poor Russian immigrant from the tenements of New York, spends two weeks with the Meade family on their Vermont farm, and all their lives are enriched by the experience.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Two weeks seems like forever to Dossi Rabinowitz, a poor Jewish orphan from New York City who is sent by the Fresh Air Fund to a small Vermont town during the summer of 1910. With her journal as her closest companion, Dossi reflects on her struggle to understand her Christian host family and their rural community-and learns about the wonders not only of fireflies and stars but also of new friends and forgiveness. Weaving engaging historical details with resonant themes, Johanna Hurwitz's richly textured new novel will be welcomed by her legions of fans.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The 120-year-old Fresh Air Fund, which gives free rural vacations to inner-city children, here provides readers the chance to explore not one but two period settings. In the summer of 1910, 12-year-old Hadassah (Dossi) Rabinowitz, born in Russia and now orphaned, leaves the small room she and her sister share on New York City's Lower East Side to spend two weeks with a Vermont farm family. She brings the blank book she has won for "best achievement" in her seventh-grade class, and her entries comprise the narrative. Hurwitz (author of the 'Class Clown' books) does not attempt to ape a 12-year-old's writing the chapters are replete with dialogue and traditional exposition. The Meades have never met a Jewish person before but are open-minded. One daughter likes Dossi immediately; the other, standoffish at first, eventually becomes a good friend. The story line is somewhat artificially pumped up around a brand-new library book that gets ruined; although there is also a fire (in which Dossi plays a heroine's part), the chief interest lies in the conscientious presentation of two different cultures. Dossi reports excitedly on Mrs. Meade's canning and the girls' farm chores; she in turn tells the Meade sisters about the pickle barrels on Delancey Street and her sister's long days at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Hurwitz's research is convincing and her protagonist sympathetic enough to forgive the author's few contrivances; readers will likely be drawn to this little-known slice of history. Ages 7-up.

Publishers Weekly

Hurwitz's (the Riverside Kids series) authentic if occasionally sleepy portrait of life in early 20th-century Vermont compiles the thoughtful journal entries of 15-year-old Emma, who finds writing easier than speaking aloud ("I'm happier observing life around me than discussing it with another person"). She candidly shares her emotions as she recounts significant changes in her life. Her parents ask her to quit school to help out on the family dairy farm, since her recently married older brother has moved away, and her mother is expecting a baby. The amenable girl seems perfectly happy with this turn of events, musing, "So I'll read when I want, and knit when I want, and milk the cows when they want." Emma is increasingly smitten by kind and handsome 19-year-old Cole, whose attempts at courting her are firmly quashed by her father. Hurwitz keeps the focus on human nature but also nimbly integrates into her story the dramatic effects of nature's ravages on farm life, such as a summer and fall drought, severe winter blizzards and heavy spring rains that cause devastating flooding. (In the novel's only credibility-straining scene, during a deluge, Emma tumbles into a river when the bridge she is crossing collapses, uses her scarf to tie herself to a log in the rushing water and is rescued by Cole.) A heartwarming, if expected, conclusion caps this engaging period fiction. Ages 10-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Elizabeth Young

Set in the early 20th century on a Vermont farm, this charming, homespun tale of rural life exposes the reality and hardships of life without the amenities of today. Similar to the nostalgia of the "Little House on the Prairie" series, Hurwitz attracts many of the same readers in her stories about Emma, a 16-year-old on the verge of becoming a woman, but not before her time--or her father's wishes! Slow going at the beginning, this becomes a bit easier to read at the halfway mark, after Papa forbids 19-year-old Cole Berry to speak to his daughter. Written as journal entries, Emma details her life as a young woman working on a farm, espousing her innermost feelings and desires of the heart. Written primarily as a romance, this book does not preclude others from enjoying this quaint novel. It is worth a look for anyone even remotely interested in historical fiction and feminist studies. Yes, even feminists will delight in Emma's tenacious determination and practicality, while respecting her family and heritage. As a reading club choice, this will easily lend itself to discussions of similarities and differences in today's world, as well as today's 16-year-old girls--sure to make for lively discussion. 2006, HarperCollins, and Ages 9 to 12.

Children's Literature - Kathleen Kelly

The author of such modern-day favorites as Aldo Applesauce and Ever-Clever Elisa turns her hand to historical fiction in this book, set in 1910. Dossi, a poor orphaned girl from New York City, finds herself on a trip to Jericho, Vermont, as a beneficiary of the Fresh Air Fund. Her older sister, Ruthi, insists that it will be good for her, but Dossi isn't so sure. When she arrives at the home of the Meade family, fourteen-year-old Emma immediately takes a dislike to the new guest. Dossi gradually adjusts to the family, and even gets to meet a local celebrity, Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley, an actual historical figure who was the first to photograph snowflakes. Though such details sometimes seem a bit forced in the context of the story, the Author's Note, which separates fact from fiction, will prove valuable to teachers. Regardless of pedagogical use, this gentle story with its well-drawn characters will surely speak to young readers.

Children's Literature - Jan Lieberman

Readers have a glimpse of what it was like for a poor Russian-Jewish immigrant from New York in 1910 to visit a farm in Vermont with the Meades, a Gentile family. The Meades learn about Dossi's traditions such as not eating meat unless it is kosher, or not drinking milk when there is meat on the table. In return, she learns how to gather eggs, milk cows and takes part in alerting the Meades to a barn fire that puts their house in danger. The historic facts appear in the Author's Note. The Fresh Air Fund was established in 1877 and is still in existence. It has succeeded in giving city children a chance to taste life in the country. Read all 9 "From The Critics" >