The Education of Ivy Blake

by Ellen Airgood

Overview

* "Like Anne of Green Gables and many other neglected creative girls before her, Ivy is irresistible, and readers will be rooting for her all the way."—School Library Journal, starred review
 
Ivy has loved living with her best friend, Prairie, and being part of Prairie’s lively, happy family. But now Ivy’s mom has decided to take her back. Ivy tries to pretend everything is fine, but her mom’s neglect and embarrassing public tantrums often make Ivy feel ashamed and alone. Fortunately, Ivy is able to find solace in art, in movies, and from the pleasure she finds in observing and appreciating life’s small, beautiful moments. And when things with her mom reach the tipping point, this ability gives her the strength and power to push on and shape her own future.
In this uplifting companion to Prairie Evers, shy, introverted Ivy must find her footing when her reckless mom turns her world upside down.

"Hand to fans of the quiet, resilient, and realistic heroes in Pam Muñoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising or lovers of the novels of Eva Ibbotson." —Booklist

"An uplifting coming-of-age story that foregrounds both the loss and the luster involved in creating an identity all one's own."—Kirkus Reviews

Perfect for readers of Joan Bauer's Close to Famous and Lynda Mullaly Hunt's One for the Murphys!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399162787
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	06/09/2015
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 5.80(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	730L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 Years

About the Author

Ellen Airgood (www.ellenairgood.com) is the author of Prairie Evers, which was a Bank Street Best Book and has won numerous state awards, and the adult novel South of Superior. She lives in Grand Marais, Michigan.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1: Ice Floe
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Education of Ivy Blake"
by .
Copyright © 2016 Ellen Airgood.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Young Readers Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

★ 04/01/2015
Gr 4–6—Eleven-year-old Ivy Blake has spent most of a wonderful year with the Evers family. She loves Mom, Dad, Grammy, and especially her best friend, Prairie, and she knows that they love her too, but she can't quite feel like she belongs with them. When her mother asks Ivy to come back to live with her, the girl is conflicted but decides to go. Living with her mother again isn't easy—it means a new school, conflicting loyalties, borderline neglect, and the constant strain of her mother's negative outlook and dangerously uncertain temper. Ivy copes and creates through her sketchbook; drawing and writing about her days, the people she loves, and her dreams of making movies. Having dealt with a lot of tough situations in her short life, Ivy is mature and self-aware, but also realistically confused and emotionally awkward. As the title suggests, Ivy's character development is the core of the story, and its strength is Ivy's need to find her own identity and figure her problems out herself. Even the people who love her dearly and believe in her can't give her the answers—she has to find out for herself who she is and who she wants to be. With the exception of Ivy's mother, who is difficult but not a caricature, the people in Ivy's world are almost impossibly warm, intuitive, creative, and kind. This leaves the ending more in the realm of wish fulfillment than harsh reality, but Ivy's insistence on relying on herself ensures that readers will feel that she's earned it. Like Anne of Green Gables and many other neglected creative girls before her, Ivy is irresistible, and readers will be rooting for her all the way. VERDICT A thoughtful and sweet story about finding the family you need in order to be your best self.—Katya Schapiro, Brooklyn Public Library

School Library Journal

2015-02-22
It seems like 11-year-old Ivy Blake's dreams are coming true when she is reunited with her mother, but she quickly realizes that this is not the happy ending she's been yearning for. Ivy was first introduced as Prairie's best friend in Prairie Evers (2012), but readers don't need to have read that volume to enjoy this installment of Ivy's story. When Ivy's mother comes to collect her from the Evers' home, where she's been staying, Ivy has high hopes. But soon her mother's bad judgment and temper return in full force, and Ivy is scared, lonely, and ashamed to tell the Evers family what's happening. Still, Ivy keeps a level head as she forges onward, finding new friends and a means of self-expression by cultivating a newfound love of moviemaking. In the end, Ivy will have to choose between the life her mother wants for her and the life she is building for herself. Because this contemplative tale is character- rather than plot-driven and doesn't shy away from Ivy's emotional turmoil, it can feel somewhat dispiriting in places. Persistent readers, though, will become invested in Ivy and ultimately find her story quietly satisfying. An uplifting coming-of-age story that foregrounds both the loss and the luster involved in creating an identity all one's own. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews

* “Ivy’s insistence on relying on herself ensures that readers will feel that she’s earned it. Like Anne of Green Gables and many other neglected creative girls before her, Ivy is irresistible, and readers will be rooting for her all the way. . . . A thoughtful and sweet story about finding the family you need in order to be your best self.”—School Library Journal, starred review
 
“Airgood’s characters are multilayered and compelling, and Ivy’s story of triumph offers realistic hope and optimism. . . . Hand to fans of the quiet, resilient, and realistic heroes in Pam Muñoz Ryan’s Esperanza Rising or lovers of the novels of Eva Ibbotson.” —Booklist

“Doesn’t shy away from Ivy’s emotional turmoil . . . quietly satisfying. An uplifting coming-of-age story that foregrounds both the loss and the luster involved in creating an identity all one’s own.”—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

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