Baby
“The memory is this: a blue blanket in a blanket that pricks her bare legs, and the world turning over as she tumbles out. A flash of trees, sky, clouds, and the hard driveway of dirt and gravel. Then she is lifted up and up and held tight. Kind faces, she remembers, but that might be the later memory of her imagination. Still when the memory comes, sometimes many times a night and in the day the arms that hold her are always safe.” -Patricia MacLachlan
Baby is a fiction chapter book (132 pgs) published on September 1995. It’s written by Patricia MacLachlan winner of the 1986 New Medal for Sarah, Plain and Tall. Baby takes place on an Island and it’s a great book to remember.
Summer’s end... It starts out with an introduction of an unusual family. Larkin is a 12 year old girl who has a best friend named Lalo. Larkin’s parents have their own thing going on, Byrd is Larkin’s Grandma, Lily is Larkin’s mother. She is an artist and his father’s name is unknown, but he is the editor of the Island newspaper, who loves to tap dance in the evenings.
Sophie is the main character of the story. She is “baby.” She was abandoned by her mother on Larkin’s driveway. Sophie was left in a basket with a sheet of paper that said, “This is Sophie. She is almost one year old and she is good. I cannot take care of her now, but I know she will be safe with you, I have watched you. You will be a good family. I will lose her forever if you don’t do this, so please keep her. I will send money for her one day. I love her.”
Mama and papa decided to keep her for a while until they both agreed on what to do. As time passed, Sophie was becoming more and more comfortable with her new family. They were all happy to have her be a part of their family and they enjoyed seeing her development as she learned new things each day.
Lily had lost a baby boy and she never talked about him. Neither did papa. But Larkin always tried to make a conversation about him, but it never worked. There would be no response just silence every time.
The whole family knew that Sophie’s mom would come back any day. They were afraid of losing Sophie like they lost their baby boy William, but they knew that the day would come sooner or later. The day finally came... when Byrd saw the woman, standing on the porch, she knew that the day had arrived. It was Sophie’s mother Julia. She had returned as she said, to take her away.
This book should be read by the readers who enjoy fiction books that seem realistic and that can also relate to the story. All ages should be able to read this book because it’s a great book.
There were a few words that were hard to figure out, but writing them down and going back to them helped a lot.
Baby is a one of a kind book, it’s exciting, but sad at the end. I enjoyed reading this book because I like to think about the situation in the book and put myself in their shoes. This book relates to my life because I have a son, and as a mother I would never leave my son with strangers and then come and take him away from them.