Leaving Gee's Bend

Looking forward to another great class of authors was one of the reasons that created a lot of excitement as the new year approached. I could hardly contain the feeling of bliss I felt when my Amazon box came containing my first two books from the Class of 2k10, Leaving Gee's Bend and A Secret Year. Because life has felt so busy and hectic lately, I have not been able to read nearly as much as I would like, but I enjoyed every minute that I was able to read Leaving Gee's Bend.

The narration quickly swept me up into Ludelphia's world full of adventures, challenges, and mystery. When she found the courage to leave her hometown for the first time in order to try to get a doctor for her mother whose medical condition consistently became more complicated, I could not wait to see what would happen.

I imagine Lu never would have thought that her first time out of her community would be all by herself, maybe she hadn't even thought of leaving ever. Yet, dire circumstances drove her to sacrifice anything and to find a way to do everything in her power for her mother's well-being.

In order to find comfort, Lu gathered up every scrap of cloth possible to add to a quilt she was making to tell her story and give to her mother. Yet, at certain points along her journey Lu began to worry that not only would she lose her precious quilt, but also her mother and everything else that was important to her.

Irene Latham created a multi-faceted story weaving together history and culture to bring Lu's story to life. Tomorrow I will be proud to add one more high quality book to my classroom library shelves!