Sunday, March 15, 2009

A summer to die by Rocel Dudang

“You’ll never miss the water until the well goes dry.”

“A Summer to Die”, Lois Lowry’s children’s book, and was published in 1977. Lowry is a somewhat controversial children’s book author. Being a former journalist, she has dealt with issues like racism, terminal illnesses, and murder before. The most shocking thing about this author is that she incorporates these topics into some of her children’s books. This leads to some of her works either to be incorporated into schools’ curriculums or to be prohibited in classroom studies. She has written 30 more children’s books after this and two of them were awarded the prestigious Newberry Medal.

The story revolves around Meg and Molly, two very different sisters, and the happenings with one year of their lives. The story starts when their father, an English language professor at a university, decides to take a year off to focus on his book, which he says will shake the world of literature. They move to a quieter house in the country and the sisters are forced to share a room. Like other sisters, they are not too fond of each other. Molly is the popular blonde girl who has a nice body and is sure of her future. On the other hand, Meg is the four-eyed girl who is unsure of her future and is jealous of her older sister. Molly decided to draw a chalk line in the middle of the room. The line went right through the floor, the rug, and up the walls.

On the other side of the road, lives the owner of the house that they are renting, Will Banks. The sisters make a rapport with the old man. Banks learns about photography with Meg and teaches Molly about the wildflowers that cover the estate.

Then, Molly got sick. At first, they just thought it was just because of the cold weather. Meg just thought it was annoying. Seeing her worry about her looks, always carrying a box of tissue for her dumb nosebleeds, and seeing everyone wait on her hand and foot for the test results. She was just purely annoyed. But, that changed when she found out that Molly was never going to be better. Molly had leukemia…and she was going to die. She was given pills to make her feel better but these made her lose her beautiful golden locks.

After a while, Ben Brady and a pregnant Maria Abott, whom the townspeople thought are not married, rent the third house owned by banks. The people in the estate enjoy each other’s company and grow closer to each other. Just when they thought everything was going just fine, Molly is suddenly rushed to the hospital. She asks Meg to tell the baby to wait to be born until she is released and also for it to be born in the day so she can take pictures. They named it Happy William Abbot-Brady. In the end, Molly dies and the family moves back to the city. Meg finds that the jealousy she once had was transformed into pure love.

This story deals with the rollercoaster of emotions of a young girl and the death of her older sister just when she was losing her jealousy over her. Sibling rivalry is a very common problem no matter where you go. This story can help in opening their eyes and stop them from quarrelling and love each other before it is too late.

Lowry was very successful in incorporating death into a children’s book. It can reach out and grab the hearts of the reader, whether it may be as young as 10 years old or as old as 60. It was very sad since I am not very fond of sad endings. But, I can say that it is a very wonderful story that can help in the growth of siblings’ bonds.


Ma Rocel Dudang
IV-Madame Marie Curie
Mrs Ellen Mae Badillo-Laurente
Teacher, Faculty and Staff
The Makati Science High School

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