A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32 by Joan W. Blos
Winner, 1980 Newbery Award
Quick Summary
The fictional journal of a 14-year-old girl, kept the last year she lived on the family farm, records daily events in her small New Hampshire town, including her father's remarriage and the death of her best friend.
Favorite Quote
I think there was never a gladder sight, or a more certain sign of Spring, than pails uptilted to the sun on the South side of the house.
About the Author
Joan Blos lives in Ann Arbor. She became interested in children's language and literature when studying psychology as a graduate student. The author of several historical books and picture books for children, Joan Blos has an honorary degree from Bank Street College of Education.
My Project
My project was inspired by three parts of the book: 1) The main character works on a Mariner's Compass quilt during the book. 2) She also mentions visiting stencillers who come to the town to decorate the walls of neighboring houses. 3) The many long winters in New England. I created a stencil of a compass quilt square that I painted. (The stenciled part is the white star.) I then added a paper cut-out of the top blocks and colored them with colored pencils. The white background represents the snowy setting.
Final Thoughts
This book does feel like an authentic journal of period with its characteristic odd spellings (cyder instead of cider, sirup instead of syrup), abbreviations ('Dan'l' instead of "Daniel"), and word choice. Those characteristics can make it a tough read for a modern reader not used to reading period fiction. The main character, Catherine, seemed likeable, but distant in the way you might expect a New Englander of that time period to be. Given all the modern fears of spoilers when it comes to entertainment, I found it odd that two of the main events of the book (her father's remarriage and the death of her best friend) were mentioned on the very first page.
If you read this book, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments.