A City Tossed and Broken

January 15, 2013
National Book Award winner Blundell (What I Saw and How I Lied, 2008) explores the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fires in this well-crafted, literary page turner. Resourceful, frank and observant, with a wry sense of humor, 14-year-old Minnie must take work as a lady's maid for the unscrupulous and ostentatious Sumps, who are moving to San Francisco, when her beloved and restless father gambles away the family's Philadelphia tavern. "I'd rather wash the greasiest pots in the tavern. I'd rather clean the fish," she confides in her diary. Mrs. Chester Sump, her remote, 16-year-old daughter Lily and Minnie arrive in San Francisco on April 17, 1906, just in time for the biggest society event of the season--Enrico Caruso's appearance in Carmen. At 5:12 the next morning, a massive earthquake tears through the city. The author deftly incorporates true events, circumstances and key historical figures into the rapidly unfolding fictional plot, in which Minnie is thrown into a moral dilemma after she is mistaken for someone else. Blundell achieves an impressive balance, portraying the catastrophic destruction and fight to save the city while imbuing the story with elements of mystery, melodrama and a Mark Twain-like sensibility. As Minnie uncovers truly corrupt and greedy goings-on, perpetrated by characters such as "Slippery Andy," and also witnesses heroic firemen in action, her sense of what it means to live with integrity crystallizes. Exciting, suspenseful, absorbing and informative. (epilogue, historical note, archival photographs, author's note) (Historical fiction. 8-13)

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May 1, 2013

Gr 5-8-When her father loses the family business in a series of bad bets, 14-year-old Minette Bonner must work off the debt as a lady's maid for a wealthy family, moving with them from Philadelphia to San Francisco. Minnie soon finds that her own family's losses are much more complicated than she originally thought. The Sumps, however, throw around money to assure their place in San Francisco society. Minnie arrives, along with Mrs. Sump and her daughter, Lily, just in time to overhear secrets that help explain her own family's troubles and to experience the 1906 earthquake. The quake throws the world into chaos and offers Minnie new choices, including the chance to masquerade as Lily in order to save her own family. When viewed through the lens of a story about a girl's new life in a new city, this novel fits with a middle school audience. When considering the complex socioeconomic and political issues at work, however, it will be appreciated by older students. An interesting piece of historical fiction and a solid purchase.-Sarah Knutson, American Canyon Middle School, CA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2013
Grades 4-6 Can teen housemaid Minnie pretend to be wealthy young heiress Lily Sump after the latter is killed with her parents in San Francisco's devastating 1906 earthquake? Indeed, it is a chance to avenge her family after they had been swindled out of their livelihood by the corrupt Mr. Sump and his cronies. This tantalizing prospect propels Blundell's lively Dear America series entry. The vivid portrayal of the wreckage and ensuing fires captures the horror of the catastrophe and provides a striking backdrop to Minnie's wrenching drama and crisis response. Even an overly convenient ending does not lessen the pull of the fascinating concept at the story's core: Could we assume another person's life?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)