Amalee

by Dar Williams

Book Overview

A remarkably moving, large-hearted child's eye novel of friendship, illness, and coming together by acclaimed singer-songwriter Dar Williams.Amalee's world is all out of order. She's used to chaos,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0439395631
• ISBN13: 9780439395632
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Length: 180 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Growing up with a non traditional family..

This book was every bit as touching and moving as Dar's music. Amalee is an 11 year old girl who grows up with out her mother. When her father falls ill Amalee finds herself in the arms of a family(her fathers friends) not so traditional but just as strong, loving, and important as any blood relatives could be. This is an excelent book for growing up. Especialy for children who don't have a traditional family. Aunts and Uncles are friends of the parents and mom or dad are missing. Also just a good touching book.

Worthy of Dar

I was a little nervous when I started to read this book. I love Dar William's music, but I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this. I had nothing to worry about. I was very impressed by her writing style and the tale she had to tell. The book is very easy to read. It flows from beginning to end. The tale is one that everyone can understand and be moved by. Everyone's been 11 years old and felt like everything around them is going crazy. Everyone's had the same feelings as Amalee. And I'm sure everyone has parents who have at least one "crazy" friend. Or is a parent and has that friend.

Finding the future that redeems

In Dar's own words, it is only when adults stop growing that they can't reach young people. She shouldn't worry, because this book is full of lessons and insights for everyone, regardless of age. Amalee is funny and clever and touchingly true on so many levels. At fifteen, I have grown up listening to Dar's music and I have always found out that one of her songs says exactly the right thing when I need it. Amalee is no different; it served as a welcome reminder of what my priorities should be. The protagonist so resembles me not very long ago at all, I was almost unnerved. Dar may be a sixth-grade girl at heart, or just remarkably good at understanding how people think and act.Dar is just as talented a novelist as a singer/songwriter, and I look forward to future books from her.

Excellent

I received this book today as a gift, and I read it all in one sitting. I loved it. I related to Amalee, even though the details of her life as an eleven-year-old are quite different than the details of mine were, because her character is very authentic. The level at which she examines her life, the way she struggles between what she thinks and what she can manage to say, is intelligent, yet authentically preteen. As the novel progresses, the other characters grow beyond caricatures in the same way that I think an eleven-year-old begins to see adults (and herself) as layered people.Best of all, the book just made me feel good without attacking me with a bunch of lame, blatant emotional missiles. And it achieves what I think is the responsibility young adult literature has over other types of literature: it teaches a lesson, offers the reader something to take with him or her about growing up, in a very genuine way.

highly recommended for dar fans, kids, pretty much everyone

I thought Amalee was great. The story and characters were engaging, and the writing and imagery were certainly on a par with Dar's usual level of excellence. It reminded me quite a bit of Nora Raleigh Baskin's books, which are also set in Ulster County, NY (definitely check these out if you enjoyed Amalee). Dar has an exceedingly rare gift: the ability to tell beautiful, interesting stories via both song and novel.