Unit 5 Review - The Hired Girl

 

Bibliographic Information

Schlitz, L. A. 2017. THE HIRED GIRL. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick. ISBN 9780763694500

Plot Summary

Fourteen-year-old Joan Skraggs, just like the heroines in her beloved novels, yearns for real life and true love. But what hope is there for adventure, beauty, or art on a hardscrabble farm in Pennsylvania where the work never ends? Over the summer of 1911, Joan pours her heart out into her diary as she seeks a new, better life for herself—because maybe, just maybe, a hired girl cleaning and cooking for six dollars a week can become what a farm girl could only dream of—a woman with a future.

Inspired by her grandmother’s journal, Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz brings her sharp wit and keen eye to early twentieth-century America in a comedic tour de force destined to become a modern classic. Joan’s journey from the muck of the chicken coop to the comforts of a society household in Baltimore (Electricity! Carpet sweepers! Sending out the laundry!) takes its reader on an exploration of feminism and housework, religion and literature, love and loyalty, cats, hats, bunions, and burns.

Critical Analysis

Written in diary entry format, The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz, invites the reader to fall headfirst into the life of fourteen-year-old Joan Skraggs. With her intellect, her appreciation for language, and her tendency for the dramatic, Joan longs for a life of education, culture, and romance. Our story begins with young Joan, living in rural Pennsylvania with her abusive father and passive brothers, who carries a yearning for a different life after the death of her mother. Since this story is written in diary entries, the reader really feels her emotions and sees the world through Joan’s eyes. Having been a 14-year-old girl myself, I really related to Joan and the feelings of injustice and unfairness that she experiences.

Readers will also identify with Joan’s desire to make a better life for herself and follow her dreams. Her mother always wanted bigger and better things for Joan, and eventually, after her father burns her beloved books, Jaon decides she wants to change her life for the better as well. Even though times have changed since 1911, I was afraid for Joan as she set out alone into the world. She makes her way to Baltimore where she is found crying on a park bench by a young Jewish man, who takes her to his home where his mother hires her as a servant for the family. Through the struggles that Joan, known as 18-year-old Janet to the Rosenbachs, faces, she is influenced to better herself, grow and mature, and face some of the harsh realities of the times. 

Even though the characters are from another time period and may be from a culture and religion unfamiliar to readers, Laura Amy Schlitz does an excellent job of describing their traits, clothing, and attitudes. Throughout the novel Schlitz uses authentic dialog that supports the Rosenbach’s realism such as using phrases in Yiddish or Hebrew, and describing Jewish holy days like Shabbat in a way that confirms the research and authenticity that went into writing this novel. The Hired Girl accurately portrays the social and cultural conditions of the early 1900’s and is written in a way that reflects the voice of the people during this time period. The characters are easy to identify with and root for, and all of this is woven together in a rich, engaging story that will leave you happy and satisfied for all of the characters and their outcomes. This wonderful piece of historical fiction is sure to be an instant favorite with young adult and adult readers alike.

Awards Won & Review Excerpt(s)

*Winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction

*An Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Award Winner

*Winner of the National Jewish Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature

*Booklist (starred review) -  Written as a diary, the first-person narrative brings immediacy to Joan’s story and intimacy to her confessions and revelations. The distinctive household setting and the many secondary characters are well developed, while Joan comes alive on the page as a vulnerable, good-hearted, and sometimes painfully self-aware character struggling to find her place in the world. A memorable novel from a captivating storyteller.

*Kirkus Reviews (starred review) - The diary format allows Joan's romantic tendencies full rein, as well as narrative latitude for a few highly improbable scenarios and wildly silly passion. Tons of period details, especially about clothing, round out a highly satisfying and smart breast-clutcher from this Newbery-winning author.

Connections

*This novel is written in diary entry format. In pairs or in a casual group setting, discuss diaries. Who has kept a diary? What kinds of things did you write in it? Who still keeps a diary (or journal)? What purpose does it serve to write down memories of your day?

*If you really loved this book, and you’d like to read more books like it, here are

some suggestions.

Donnelly, Jennifer. A NORTHERN LIGHT. ISBN 978-0152167059

Whitman, Emily. WILDWING. ISBN 978-0061724527