Book Review – Strawberry Girl
Lois Lenski’s Strawberry Girl is one of the classic Newbery medal winners. Awarded with the medal in 1946, she speaks of a more familiar and current time than the present one. Today, this rich novel opens the window to a time that few can remember. This is one of many books Lenski wrote with an emphasis on regional stories that allow young readers to learn about how American children lived during the early part of the 20th century.
Strawberry girl it’s an interesting read. At first glance, the title and cover image of a girl carrying a fruit basket may mislead the reader into expecting a cute story from a girl who loves strawberries. Rather, the story is more about clashes and tribulations between farmers and ranchers along with how they resolved violent conflicts than it is about strawberry picking.
Strawberry Girl represents two families, Boyer’s and Slater’s. The Boyers move from North Carolina to Florida to grow strawberries, sweet potatoes, and harvest oranges. The Slaters are ranchers and have lived in central Florida for a long time. They don’t believe in fencing and let their livestock roam the entire county, even if it means destroying their neighbors’ crops. The two families argue throughout the book. The Slater family believes that the Boyers are “arrogance” due to the success of Boyer’s agricultural ventures. Slater’s routine is to sit back and do nothing to improve his way of life.
This way of thinking creates hostile actions and feelings between the two families. Violence and drunkenness increase throughout history. This book can cross the line with many adults when the neighbors start killing each other animals, plus the Slater kids beat up the school teacher. This incident forced the school to close for weeks. Certainly, a little discussion with young children may be desired to explain why these incidents occurred.
Additionally, Lenski writes in a Florida woodland dialect typical of the time period that might be too difficult for third and fourth graders to read. I think this story should be read aloud to get the full effect of what the southern dialogue sounded like. For example, speak like
“Ha ha! He doesn’t have a dog! Hit is a raccoon.” and “I’ll give you still, kidding wait”.
However, I do not believe that this book has won the Newbery Award for its description of assault. Times were tough in the early 20th century and conflict resolution back then is not typical of today. Strawberry Girl explains the day-to-day activities of the Boyer family. A young reader can learn exactly how to grind sugar cane and scoop it out for fun later. In addition, the book explains the details of Florida’s weather in spring and summer. Also, how to grow strawberries in sandy soil is detailed. Part of the charm of this mid-grade novel is in describing how the old pioneers of Florida did it.
Strawberry Girl is a very well written novel about hard times. Accurately describes a pioneering adventure true to life.