Nory Ryan's Song

by Patricia Reilly Giff

Book Overview

Nory Ryan's family has lived on Maidin Bay on the west coast of Ireland for generations, raising a pig and a few chickens, planting potatoes, getting by. Every year Nory's father goes away on a fishing boat and returns with the rent money for the English lord who owns their cottage and fields, the English lord bent upon forcing the Irish from their land so he can tumble the cottages and clear the fields for grazing. Times are never easy on Maidin...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440418291
• ISBN13: 9780440418290
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Yearling Books
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Heroism strength of friendship a bond between a loving mother and a twelve year old girl

The story based on a historcal time,lack of food, and no assustance for the British goverment. Just read it well written.

EXCELLENT!

I am a 13 year old who does not enjoy reading very much and would rather be watching MTV instead.But when I first picked up this book I could not put it down I read it in about 2 days. Patricia Reilly Giff is my new favorite author!It is about a girl and her family during the potato famine in Irealand. As she is trying to save her self by eating anything she can find from bird eggs to grass she is also struggling to save her friends and family.Does she come through?You will have to find out! : )I did and I loved it!

Nory Ryan's Song

Recently, I read the novel, Nory Ryan's Song, by Patricia Reilly Giff. Personally, I rated this book 5 stars because it showed how life really was for some people. She shows how life was during the depression in Ireland. She also uses impecable description. She shows the setting and charactors in a clear and well detailed way. The main charactor in the book was easy to relate to. Even I could relate to her. Nory is Irish, I am Irish. Nory loves potatoes, I LOVE potatoes. I would recommend this to 13+ and people who like realistic fiction. This book has a little bit of Gaelic in it so it may be difficult for younger children. The story and plot are believable and it's about something that happened in real life with fictional charactors. This book is enjoyable and I would recommend this book and author in the future!

Powerful!

Nory Ryan's Song portrays the near hopelessness faced by those who suffered through the potato blight of the mid-1800s in Ireland. Starvation and desperation are vividly described through the perspective of twelve-year-old Nory as she struggles to survive and provide for her loved ones. The music within her allows her to connect with a woman whom she initially fears, but who is able to provide Nory with sustenance and ultimately with a gift of knowledge that will allow her to heal others. The author's use of language is notable: Giff creates an "Irish lilt" in her text that provides a strong sense of place and authenticity to this powerful and moving story.

Another PRG Masterpiece!

In famine-infested Ireland, Nory Ryan is left to fend for her family in ways she does not even understand. How can she overcome fears of the past and uncertainties of the present in order to reunite her family and loved ones in a new country? The touching story of a very dedicated young girl will touch and inspire. Another masterpiece by a captivating author!

A young girl's courage keeps her family alive.

Twelve-year-old Nory Ryan and her family have always lived a meager life in the Irish countryside, but they have always managed to make ends meet. But now it's 1845, and a terrible blight is attacking the potato crops, the main source of food for the Irish peasants. And not only are the in danger of starvation, but their English landlord is threatening to turn them off the land that should be theirs if they don't pay the rent soon. But Nory is brave and resourceful, and she comes up with ways to stretch their food, pay the rent, and keep herself and her family and friends alive. But as time goes by, things get harder. Nory dreams of a better live. Can she find what it take to survive until the day she can make her dreams come true? This was a beautifully written historical novel about an ordinary girl's immense courage and resourcefullness during a tragic and difficult time in history. Highly reccomended to historical fiction fans.