Miracles on Maple Hill

Miracles on Maple Hill

Marly’s father hasn’t been the same since he came home from the war.  His time as a POW has changed him and the whole family is on edge.  They all hope that some time away from the city will help heal him.  Growing up, Marly’s mother loved going to visit her Grandmother on Maple Hill.  She’s described the idyllic farm so often and so well that Marly can picture it perfectly.  It’s this bucolic setting that they hope will be the key to getting Daddy better.  Marly is immediately convinced even though things don’t start auspiciously, with the car getting stuck in the snow and the house needing a lot of cleaning and tending.  But before long, the whole family is charmed by the neighbors, the surrounding nature and the simple life of Maple Hill.

This is very much in the tradition of old-fashioned books with lots of quiet descriptions.  It does drag a bit in parts which may lose today’s modern readers.  Much of the book is timeless, with the country setting accounting for differences between its own time period and today.  The current generation is sadly just as familiar with people coming home from war changed as was Marly’s.  The thing that does this book the most disservice however is the rampant sexism, which will certainly alienate today’s readers. The best way to deal with this would be to use it as a read aloud and simply skip the sexist digs.

This would be best understood by Grades 3-4 but the content and interest might be slightly lower.

If the illustrations look familiar, it’s because they’re done by Joe and Beth Krush who’ve also done the Borrowers and Sydney Taylor’s All-of-a-Kind Family series.

Great for: Old fashioned good clean reading. This is also a rare book which explores the effects of war on a family without it becoming an issues book.
Sexism – Marly’s mother tells her that the kitchen is where “we women have to dig.” Marly feels proud of working in the kitchen.  At one point Marly ponders how she can’t explore like her brother because she’s a girl.  She also says that “cities are better for boys.” She’s terrified of cows and says her brother is not.  At one point she feels sorry for her brother because it’s okay for girls to be silly or scared or even ask dumb questions.  Everyone just thinks it’s funny.  But it’s embarrassing for her brother to do those things.  When Marly cries her brother tells her that it won’t help that it’s just like a girl to cry.  When someone from school wants to discuss Marly and Joe, Mother says “let me get my husband.”  Marly asks if girls can help with the maple syrup and Mother says that they might not want to and that Marly is a tomboy.  When the boys go fishing without Marly, her mother says they’ll just have a fine female time.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – Chris swears on the Bible.  “Hump” is used in the old-fashioned way to mean carrying things, but young readers may not know that definition.
Death, Violence and Gore – There’s a lot of animal related violence and death.  Marly discovers an adorable nest of baby mice which her family kills by putting in the stove.   More mice are killed in traps. There’s hunting and guns and Marly struggles with the conflict between finding animals cute and recognizing certain ones as pests or threats.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – Daddy is clearly not himself after coming home from war.  He was missing for a time and eventually came home after time spent as a POW.  Marly struggles with intense and scary feelings, like thinking that things were better before Daddy came home.  Daddy’s anger can be intense. Once he became so angry he couldn’t speak and left the house for hours.