Alida's Song

by Gary Paulsen Narrated by Luke Daniels

Overview

A remarkable novel about one of the most important and loving relationships in Gary Paulsen's life.

The wonderful grandmother seen through the eyes of a young boy in The Cookcamp reaches out to him at 14, offering him a haven from his harsh and painful family life. She arranges a summer job for him on the farm where she is a cook for Olaf and Gunnar, elderly brothers. Farm life offers the camaraderie and routine of hard work, good food, peaceful evenings spent making music together, even learning to dance. Life with Alida gives the boy strength and faith in himself, drawing him away from the edge and into the center of life.

Editorial Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

In Paulsen's expressive companion novella to The Cookcamp (1991), a neglected, withdrawn adolescent experiences an emotional renaissance as he gradually bonds with his caring grandmother and the two gentle farmers she cooks for. When this slender but deeply felt book opens, the 14-year-old male protagonist is living a life of quiet desperation. Struggling in school, working odd jobs and trying to avoid his unpleasant, drunken parents, the boy lives in a world devoid of close human connection. This all changes when he receives a letter from his grandmother, saying that she found him a good summer job with the Norwegian bachelor farmers who employ her. The boy takes the position, and though the work is physically demanding, his loving grandmother and the farmers slowly nurture his withered soul. Because of their goodness and tender ministrations he eventually finds the heart to, both literally and figuratively, join in the dance of life. Readers will want to savor this stirring book; by the time they find out that the farmers didn't need help and that the boy's wages were paid by his grandmother so that she could prevent his floundering, the book's emotional depths will have all but engulfed them. (Fiction. 10-12)

From the Publisher

"Leisurely paced and never melodramatic, the slender plot is as integral ... as the glowing character of the grandmother, whose goodness intensifies. "-Booklist

"This is an affectionate character study that will appeal to readers moved by The Cookcamp, wherein they first met Alicia."
-The Bulletin, Recommended

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172465796
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	02/20/2013
Series:	Alida Series
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

Read an Excerpt

Saturday came fast, too fast for the boy, but not so fast that he did not have time to think of the problems he faced.

He had never been to a party.

He did not know any of the people who would be there.

He had never been to a dance.

He could not speak to girls.

He could not be with crowds of strangers.

He could not, he finally decided, go.

The boy started in early in the day on Saturday. As they did morning chores he mentioned that he was not feeling well. His grandmother felt his head and Olaf and Gunnar both looked at him strangely.

"You did not seem sick at breakfast," Olaf said. "You ate good."

"He ate more than me," Gunnar said. "More than both of us."

"I just feel kind of sick," the boy said, knowing it was a lost cause. "It only came over me now."

"Well," his grandmother said, "I'll just have to stay home tonight and make sure you are all right."

The looks Olaf and Gunnar sent him were withering and he knew it was over. "I think it will be all right. I think I just drank too much milk. I'm still not used to whole milk."

Preparations began right after evening chores.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

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