Jip: His Story

by Katherine Paterson

Overview

Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

They tell Jip he tumbled off the back of a wagon when he was small, and no one ever came back for him. He never had a reason to question this tale—but then a stranger shows up and begins asking about him around town. Who is this man, and could he possibly know something about Jip's past?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780140386745
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	10/01/1998
Series:	Puffin Novel Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	945,285
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.74(h) x 0.51(d)
Lexile:	860L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Katherine Paterson is a legendary children's books author whose work has garnered many awards, including two Newbery medals (Bridge to Terabithia in 1978 and Jacob Have I Loved in 1981), two National Book Awards (The Master Puppeteer in 1977 and The Great Gilly Hopkins in 1979), and the Laura Ingalls Wilder medal for her substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children. Some of her other award-winning books include Come Sing, Jimmy Jo, Flip-Flop Girl, Lyddie, and Stories of My Life. She served as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2010-2011 and is currently vice president of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance. She lives in Vermont.

Editorial Reviews

* "What a story. [It will] make you should and think and shiver and cry."

From the Publisher

This historical novel about a maltreated orphan "is full of revelations and surprises," said PW's starred review; "first-rate entertainment." Ages 10-14. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 5-9Paterson's companion novel to Lyddie (Lodestar, 1991) rewards readers with memorable characters and a gripping plot. Jip has been told that he tumbled off the back of a wagon when he was a toddler in 1847. He has been raised on a poor farm in a Vermont town, where he is an indispensable asset to the lazy manager and his equally lazy wife. The boy befriends the newly arrived "lunatic" Put, who is kept imprisoned in a cage because he is subject to violent, self-destructive episodes. Jip's life is quietly circumscribed-until a stranger plants the idea that his father might be searching for him. Although he has long fantasized that a loving parent awaits him, he sees the stranger as an unlikely messenger. His instincts prove correct when the man is revealed to be a slave catcher. Then Jip learns the truth about his past: his mother was a runaway slave. With the help of his teacher, Lyddie Worthen, and her sweetheart, Quaker neighbor Luke Stevens, Jip escapes to Canada, where he is welcomed as a free man into the home of a former slave whom Lyddie helped shelter in the earlier book. Paterson's story resonates with respect for the Vermont landscape and its mid-19th-century residents, with the drama of life during a dark period in our nation's history, and with the human quest for freedom. Fans of the previous book will relish meeting up with Lyddie and Luke again at a somewhat later period in their lives. Readers will be talking and thinking about this book long after they finish the last chapter.Ellen Fader, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

School Library Journal

Jip, a swarthy “gypsy” boy, found in 1847 on the West Hill Road in rural Vermont, was raised on the town poor farm. As Jip struggles to uncover his identity, John McDonough slips deeply into the boy’s inquisitive, contemplative sensibilities. The screeching of Old Berthie; the slow-witted drawl of Jip’s beloved friend, Sheldon; the cruel injunctions of farm manager Otis Lyman; the officious tones of Mrs. Lyman; the menacing overtures of the Stranger; and the wise counsel of Put, town lunatic and surrogate father, are read in highly differentiated voices. McDonough’s enthusiastic rendering of Put’s favorite hymns enlivens the character of Put and further endears him to the listener. Fine historical fiction superbly read. T.B. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine

MAR/APR 98 - AudioFile