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Uncle Ronald by Brian Doyle
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From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Sat, 04 Sep 1999 18:03:46 -0500
Here's a slightly revised version of what was written in the publication "CCBC Choices: 1997" about the novel "Uncle Ronald" by Brian Doyle (Groundwood; distributed in the U.S.A. by Publishers Group West).
Mickey, the first-person narrator, speaks to readers as a 112-year-old man, a flashback one almost immediately forgets. Mickey was 12 years old in 1895 when he was sent by his mother by train from Ottawa to the small town of Low, Quebec, to escape the abuse of his violent father.
In Low, Mickey is welcomed into the home of his mother's brother, Uncle Ronald, a gentle bear of a man, and her adult cousins the O'Malley sisters, identical twins who love a little mischief in the name of a good cause. That good cause presents itself in the form of government tax collectors, who have come to Low to insist on payment from the entire town's delinquent population. A delicious staging of comedy results when Uncle Ronald, the O'Malley sisters and other town characters exhaust the government's patience - and resources - with their colorful pranks and ingenious diversions.
In the midst of humor that is both subtle and broad, Brian Doyle never loses sight of Mickey's personal story. The arrival in Low of Mickey's smart, courageous mother, badly beaten by his father's hand, and later the arrival of the father himself, intent on reclaiming his family, are masterfully integrated into the narrative. Doyle skillfully weaves a boy's fear, and the real danger he and his mother face, into a story that is a sheer pleasure to read.
If you've had a chance to read "Uncle Ronald," what do you recall about its strengths and its appeal?
Ginny Moore Kruse (gmkruse at ccbc.education.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) A Library of the School of Education University of Wisconsin - Madison
Received on Sat 04 Sep 1999 06:03:46 PM CDT
Date: Sat, 04 Sep 1999 18:03:46 -0500
Here's a slightly revised version of what was written in the publication "CCBC Choices: 1997" about the novel "Uncle Ronald" by Brian Doyle (Groundwood; distributed in the U.S.A. by Publishers Group West).
Mickey, the first-person narrator, speaks to readers as a 112-year-old man, a flashback one almost immediately forgets. Mickey was 12 years old in 1895 when he was sent by his mother by train from Ottawa to the small town of Low, Quebec, to escape the abuse of his violent father.
In Low, Mickey is welcomed into the home of his mother's brother, Uncle Ronald, a gentle bear of a man, and her adult cousins the O'Malley sisters, identical twins who love a little mischief in the name of a good cause. That good cause presents itself in the form of government tax collectors, who have come to Low to insist on payment from the entire town's delinquent population. A delicious staging of comedy results when Uncle Ronald, the O'Malley sisters and other town characters exhaust the government's patience - and resources - with their colorful pranks and ingenious diversions.
In the midst of humor that is both subtle and broad, Brian Doyle never loses sight of Mickey's personal story. The arrival in Low of Mickey's smart, courageous mother, badly beaten by his father's hand, and later the arrival of the father himself, intent on reclaiming his family, are masterfully integrated into the narrative. Doyle skillfully weaves a boy's fear, and the real danger he and his mother face, into a story that is a sheer pleasure to read.
If you've had a chance to read "Uncle Ronald," what do you recall about its strengths and its appeal?
Ginny Moore Kruse (gmkruse at ccbc.education.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) A Library of the School of Education University of Wisconsin - Madison
Received on Sat 04 Sep 1999 06:03:46 PM CDT