Strawberry Girl

AUTHOR: Lois Lenski
ILLUSTRATOR: Lois Lenski

From the Publisher:

Rediscover this Newbery Medal–winning classic, a favorite of generations.

Strawberries—big, ripe, and juicy. Ten-year-old Birdie Boyer can hardly wait to start picking them. But her family has just moved to the Florida backwoods, and they haven’t even begun their planting. “Don’t count your biddies ‘fore they’re hatched, gal young un!” her father tells her.

Making the new farm prosper is not easy. There is heat to suffer through, and droughts, and cold snaps. And, perhaps most worrisome of all for the Boyers, there are rowdy neighbors, just itching to start a feud. The land was theirs, but so were its hardships.

Teachers, grandparents, and homeschooling families continue to reach for Lois Lenski’s Strawberry Girl. As one fan commented, a reason for its continued success is that it’s “a touching, realistic tale of the power of neighborly love and kindness.”

Leah’s Thoughts:

This is not your typical feel-good historical fiction. It’s gritty and honest about rural life in early 1900s Florida. We had some good conversations about family, hard work, and forgiveness. If you’re looking for a read-aloud that opens the door to deeper discussion, this one’s worth exploring.