A Slip of a Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff - ESSENTIAL

A Slip of a Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff, 240 pages. Holiday House, 2019. $16.

Content: G                 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH   

Anna, her father and younger, disabled sister, live in their family home in Ireland. Anna's mother died and the older siblings emigrated to America. Anna works hard to take care of both her father and her little sister. She counts out how many potatoes each of them will need daily to survive. Even though her family has lived in the stone house they built themselves for generations, the English are raising taxes. If taxes are not paid, the English send in their people with battlering rams to tear down and destroy the homes of the Irish. Anna's family home is threatened. Will Anna be able to save herself, her sister, her father and her home?          

We meet Anna in the aftermath of the great Irish Potato famine. The story  is told in verse, and is a fast read. The story is emotional and heartwarming as Anna and her farther are fighting for their home and end up getting arrested. Anna has spunk, she's determined and she is very brave. This story put the whole Irish-English conflict in a different light and I could see it from the point of view of a young Anna. I felt every emotion, every barefoot step she took and the cold and wet she experienced, while reading this book. I loved this book and can't stop thinking of Anna, and of what all the Irish people went through and how they suffered.  I highly recommend this book.  

Ellen-Anita, Librarian