Retrato do autor

Marjorie Hill Allee (1890–1945)

Autor(a) de Jane's Island

16+ Works 93 Membros 5 Críticas

About the Author

Séries

Obras por Marjorie Hill Allee

Jane's Island (1931) 30 exemplares
Judith Lankester (1930) 20 exemplares
Susanna and Tristram (1929) 12 exemplares
Winter's Mischief (1942) 4 exemplares
The Great Tradition (1937) 4 exemplares
Runaway Linda (1939) 3 exemplares
Off to Philadelphia (1936) 3 exemplares
The Camp at Westlands (1941) 3 exemplares
Ann's Surprising Summer (1933) 3 exemplares
Jungle Island (1925) 3 exemplares
Smoke Jumper (1945) 2 exemplares
The House (1944) 2 exemplares
The Little American Girl (1938) 1 exemplar
The Road to Carolina (1932) 1 exemplar
A House of Her Own 1 exemplar

Associated Works

Writing Books for Boys and Girls (1952) — Contribuidor, algumas edições5 exemplares

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Nome canónico
Allee, Marjorie Hill
Nome legal
Allee, Marjorie Hill
Data de nascimento
1890-06-02
Data de falecimento
1945-04-30
Sexo
female
Nacionalidade
USA
Local de nascimento
Carthage, Indiana, USA
Locais de residência
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Educação
Earlham College
University of Chicago (PhB)
Ocupações
author
novelist
children's book author
Relações
Allee, W. C. (husband)

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Marjorie Hill, born in Carthage, Indiana, grew up on a farm in a Quaker community. After studying English literature at Earlham College for a year, she returned home to teach in the one-room school she herself had attended. The following year, she transferred to the University of Chicago, where she graduated in 1911. In 1912, she married W.C. (Warder Clyde) Allee, a zoologist. She assisted him in the preparation of his books and scientific articles for several years, occasionally serving as co-author. Later she established herself as an author in her own right. Her first book, a collaboration with her husband, was Jungle Island (1925), a children's book describing the flora and fauna of Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal, inspired by the couple's stay there. Jane's Island (1931), a novel about scientific exploration at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, was named a Newbery Honor book.

Membros

Críticas

A cozy little book about a college girl who gets a nanny job in Woods Hole, MA for a summer. The characters are good, but it's the setting that's the real star. Lovely descriptions of the bays and little islands.
 
Assinalado
electrascaife | 2 outras críticas | Oct 5, 2017 |
I have no idea why this is so hard to find, and is not more popular. It's got interesting science, adventure, mystery, engaging characters, a bit of humor - and it's both Literary and accessible. My library in Carson City NV finally found a lendable copy from Portland, Maine!

I will admit the mystery is a bit off - the German scientist's role didn't have to quite so dramatic. But then Jane is a very dramatic young person, and Ellen is having the adventure of her life, so through the eyes of these girls his behavior is mysterious and dark.

It's interesting that the scientists have a respect for the ecosystems and for their subjects - but still harvest indiscriminately, as if they believe the sea is inexhaustible. This, despite the fact that they know that their corner of the sea is special.

I wonder what I would have thought of Mother and her new clean house and her tea parties when I was a child. Now I empathize with her! I like how Jane learned more about what it means to grow from being a grubby child to a strong & respectful young woman over the course of this summer. And Ellen learned so much about her capabilities, too.

I look forward to discussing it in the Children's Books group - not sure when, but sometime next year I believe.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
Cheryl_in_CC_NV | 2 outras críticas | Jun 6, 2016 |
Published in 1942, and long out-of-print, this entertaining and thoughtful children's novel was an absolute joy to read, from beginning to end, and deserves to be better-known! The story of Clemency Brown, a young would-be biologist who enrolls at Plainfield - a long-established Quaker boarding school in Pennsylvania, with a reputation for excellence in the sciences - and finds herself caught up in the codes and customs of her new home, Winter's Mischief offers a sensitive portrait of adolescent girls, their friendships and rivalries; as well as a moving exploration of the idea that tradition can be both a strength and a liability.

Assigned to room with Lydia Nicholson, whose parents are Plainfield teachers, and whose family has been involved with the school for many generations, Clemency is in the thick of things from her first day, and although they don't always share the same interests - Lydia is the school's field hockey star, while Clemency earns a reputation as a budding naturalist, through her extra work for Master Ted, the biology instructor - the two girls eventually develop a firm friendship. It is a mark of Allee's skill as a storyteller that she resists the urge to make them best friends, however, allowing their relationship to exist alongside other friendships - Lydia's with Nora Barrett, the Student Body President, and Clemency's with Anny Rosen, an Austrian refugee - in a way that is very realistic and believable.

Just as believable are the schoolgirl rivalries and hostilities, particularly between Lydia (and eventually Clemency) and Larks (Louise Larkin), a girl who doesn't really "fit in" at Plainfield. The eventual resolution of this issue is a little bit pat, but I was impressed with the way Allee allowed the narrative to unfold, gradually leading the reader to an understanding that this isn't simply the story of an unpleasant girl who won't "play nice," but also a tale of what effect it has, on a young person, to feel that they don't belong, and the hurt that can be caused, when people use "tradition" to exclude others.

Allee is particularly adept here, in her use of the many customs of Plainfield, all woven together, to create a portrait of a self-contained world that feels completely real. The details are fascinating, from the fact that roommates call each other "wife" (or "wee wifie," depending), to the delivery of KOBs ("Kindness of Bearer"), the letters passed - always indirectly - from the boy pupils at Boys' End, to the girl pupils at Girls' End. Of course, the most memorable Plainfield tradition is that of Borneo - the Girls' End ghost whose pranks always seem to take on the character of the girls then resident. It is this last tradition, and the way in which it is used (by multiple students) that forms the crux of this engaging novel, leading to the very satisfying conclusion, in which tradition and change are reconciled. As Clemency notes, at the conclusion of Winter's Mischief: "Tradition is a kind of shell that holds us safe while we're growing. And it can be a lovely shiny shell that the animal keeps building larger as he grows."
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
AbigailAdams26 | Jul 22, 2013 |
Published in 1931, and chosen as a Newbery Honor Book in 1932 - the other honorees that year were The Fairy Circus, Calico Bush, Boy of the South Seas, Out Of the Flame and The Truce Of the Wolf and Other Tales Of Old Italy - this summer adventure story follows soon-to-be college sophomore Ellen McNeil as she comes to Woods Hole, Massachusetts, to take up her very first job. Hired as a companion for twelve-year-old Jane Thomas, the adventurous, scientifically curious daughter of one of the summer researchers at the Woods Hole marine biology center, Ellen soon comes to care for the entire Thomas family, and to enter into their feelings of pride in Prof. Thomas' work. As the two girls enjoy summer in the small coastal town - tramping through the woods and meadows, swimming in the swift-moving channels (known locally as "gutters") between the islands - they also involve themselves in the work going on at The Laboratory, gathering the all-important planaria necessary for Prof. Thomas' work. When disaster strikes, and Prof. Thomas must be rushed to the hospital for an operation, it looks as if all of his summer's work will be wasted, until help comes from a most unexpected source...

I enjoyed Jane's Island quite a bit, immediately warming to both Ellen and Jane, and becoming happily involved in the life of the Thomas family, and the larger research community at Woods Hole. Ellen is a sympathetic heroine, while Jane, with her impetuous, tomboyish ways, evoked a strong sense of fellow feeling in me. The cast of secondary characters, from calm and kindhearted Miss Wareham, a biology teacher for fifty years, to cold and bitter Dr. von Bergen, a crippled German scientist who was once good friends with Prof. Thomas, but has now set himself as his chief rival, adds greatly to the interest of the story. I appreciated the fact that, although Dr. von Bergen is revealed as a far less villainous character than Jane initially believed, he is not entirely remade by the end of the book. The reader may have discovered that he is a decent human being, but he is still bitter and crusty. Having read two other Marjorie Hill Allee novels - Winter's Mischief and The Great Tradition - in which young girls and women devote themselves to studying biology, I was not surprised to see that Jane's interest in marine science is treated sympathetically in the story. I only wish Allee had written a sequel, in which she goes on to become a marine biologist!

All in all, Jane's Island was an engaging tale, one I would recommend to readers who enjoy summer adventure stories, as well as to those looking for tales featuring girls who love science.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
AbigailAdams26 | 2 outras críticas | Apr 5, 2013 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
16
Also by
1
Membros
93
Popularidade
#200,859
Avaliação
½ 3.7
Críticas
5
ISBN
5

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