So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, An Irish Mill Girl, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1847 (Dear America Series)
Grade 5-8.  The story of 14-year-old Mary Driscoll's escape from the famine in her native County Cork, Ireland, and her new life working in a textile mill in Lowell, MA, is presented in brief diary entries dated from April to November 1847. The purpose of using a diary format seems to be to allow enough white space on the page to keep readers from being daunted by the flat language and plodding plot. The author uses expressions and Irish-like syntax to give the effect of an Irish's girl's language. Unfortunately, the effort does not convey the rhythm of Irish speech. Despite the book's shortcomings, it is chock-full o' historical facts and background. Denenberg works in the natural and political causes of the Irish potato famine, the dangers and discomforts of overseas passage, and class differences in 1840s America, among other themes. An appendix includes more historical information, such as a popular song of the day and pictures of the architecture and fashions.?Rebecca O'Connell, Carnegie Library of PittsburghCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.