Call Me Floy

April 1, 2020

Gr 4-6-In 1864, Florence "Floy" Hutchings was the first European American child born in what would become Yosemite National Park. Daughter of publisher and Yosemite advocate James Hutchings, Floy's real-life story is fictionalized in this appealing first-person narrative. Author Cooke (The Sequoia Lives On, 2018) introduces Floy just before her 12th birthday, as her family returns to the valley where she has spent unsupervised childhood summers blissfully exploring the wonders of nature. This summer, however, Floy finds much has changed for herself as well as local friends Johnny and Sally Ann. Floy is expected to forego her dream of climbing Half Dome in favor of more ladylike, adult pursuits. Johnny yearns to go to sea and Sally Ann worries that soon her Indigenous family will no longer be able to call Yosemite their home. Readers will be inspired by Floy's determined spirit as she flouts convention to realize her dream, and in 1876, she becomes the youngest person to climb Half Dome. The novel is both a history of Yosemite and a travel guide. In Floy's wanderings through the valley, Cooke describes the girl's feelings of being in the presence of nature more than the specifics of local flora and fauna. Names of park trails and bodies of water, along with historical figures like John Muir, will encourage independent research. Back matter offers simple suggestions for outdoor adventuring. VERDICT An ideal choice for summer reading lists and to support the "No Child Left Inside" initiative.-Marybeth Kozikowski, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2020
A young girl dreams of climbing mountains but must defy expectations to do so. Having grown up in Yosemite, 11-year-old Floy now feels stifled by the classroom walls and gray skies of San Francisco, where her family was forced to move some months earlier. But all that changes when family decisions lead her back to Yosemite. Once she arrives, Floy feels more alive than ever, determined to summit Half Dome. But society's expectations for a "young lady" in 1876 threaten that goal. Floy must either convince her father to take her along on one of his expeditions or scale it alone. Based on the life of Florence Hutchings, the first European American born in Yosemite, the story offers encouragement on its surface for children to follow their dreams. However, the premise itself--a white girl bucking conventions--limits its readership. While Floy lives fully, setting lofty goals beyond her station, Native character Sally Ann exists to serve; unlike Floy's, her life is defined by the time "before," and her dreams are likewise tied to tradition. Other moments prove problematic as well. Although describing Yosemite as a "sublime land" and Floy as a "pilgrim" might reflect white sentiments of the time, without clear counterbalances it reinforces the mythic principle of Manifest Destiny. And when Floy realizes that a changing world means "there will no longer be a place" for Sally Ann and her family, unacknowledged white privilege allows her to dismiss the uncomfortable feelings she experiences and avoid confronting truth. Struggles to reach the summit. (hiking tips, author's note) (Historical fiction. 8-12)

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May 15, 2020
Grades 4-6 In 1876, Florence Floy Hutchings, almost 12, tells her first-person account of her obsessive desire to climb Half Dome Mountain in Yosemite. Floy's family was forced to leave Yosemite for San Francisco after the U.S. government ruled against her journalist father's claim to the land on which he built a hotel. Floy, the first European American born in Yosemite, in 1864, is unladylike, athletic, and headstrong; hates city living; and longs to return to the wilderness where she was born. After her unhappy mother walks out on the family, Floy gets her wish, accompanied by her gruff grandmother, her father, and her younger siblings. She soon realizes that not only has she changed and grown up, but the world around her is different, too. Floy was a real person, and this fictionalized account of her history also sensitively conveys how Indigenous peoples' lives were changing as more settlers and tourists moved into Yosemite. Like-minded adventurers will root for mischievous, strong-willed, nature-loving Floy, learn Yosemite's history, and acquire some survival tips, too.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)