Ivy, Homeless in San Francisco

Summer Brenner

Description

In this empathetic tale of hope, understanding, and the importance of family, young readers confront the difficult issues of poverty and the hardships of homelessness. Its inspiring young heroine is Ivy, who finds herself homeless on the streets of San Francisco when she and her father, Poppy, are evicted from their artist loft.

Struggling to survive day to day, Ivy and Poppy befriend a dog who leads them to the ramshackle home of octogenarian siblings, Eugenia and Oscar Orr. This marks the start of a series of desperate and joyful adventures that blend a spoonful of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist with a dash of Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City and a few pinches of the Adventures of Lassie. Ivy’s tale will appeal to young readers and adults, providing much material for discussion between generations.

Sujets

• Coming of age
• Poverty

Informations

• Publié par: PM Press
• Date de parution: 01 juin 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781604865790
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Praise for Ivy, Homeless in San Francisco
"Ivy is an engaging, educational experience, with emotional range, density of characters, a cinematic visual imagination, and a heroine wild at heart. We have a lot to learn about homelessness, and Summer Brenner’s saga of fractured family and redeeming friendship takes us deep inside the experience, while agitating our broader concern with social justice. All this in a lucid, poetic prose. She not only will get young people to read but make them want to write as well."
- John Broughton Associate professor of psychology and education Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York
"Ivy is a story of homelessness. It is full of risk and tenderness, pain and insight, all mixed with fear and hope. Author Summer Brenner engages readers by setting a course for a young girl and her father that requires connection and kindness in an uneasy world. Genuine characters tell the tale that is at once prickly and gentle. Readers will gain a picture of what over 1.5 million children in the U.S. experienced this year. Ivy is a lovely book on a tough condition."
- Lyn Palme, library specialist Contra Costa County, California
"Summer Brenner’s Ivy, Homeless in San Francisco wraps itself around enough realism to give young readers hope that there are good people in our world and that good things do happen, often when least expected. My sixth grade San Francisco Bay Area English students always enjoy the magic that envelops Ivy. Summer’s poetic language captures the essence of San Francisco."
- Janet Volkmann, teacher Oakland Unified School District, Oakland, California
"The title made me feel this story would be an exiting and thrilling adventure. The book did not disappoint me. I know what a busy city San Francisco is, and being homeless there would not be the best. Although I would not want to be homeless, Ivy’s story showed me how to be loyal and independent and the importance of being resourceful. Ivy also taught me how much I am distracted by all kinds of electronics because she was a deep thinker. I think schools should teach from this book because of the great lessons."
-SunIm "Sunny" Chang, age 11
"Ivy was sad but exciting at the same time. I was wondering what would happen every night. It stinks when you have to be homeless. If I knew someone who was homeless at my school I would want to help them. I think it would be really hard for homeless people to live out there when there is no shelter. As Eugenia Orr says, ‘The weather simply could not be helped.’ To me this means people who have a home have the choice to go in when it’s cold or hot, but homeless people have to live in the weather."
-Roan Linvill, age 8
"Ivy is a great book. I especially like the way the storyline curves up and down with exciting and quiet moments. When I was reading it, I kept on saying to myself, ‘No, just one more chapter, just one more chapter!’ In other words, I could not put it down."
-Arianna Delsman, age 9
"Homelessness is an issue that affects many different people in many societies. Ivy is an 11-year old homeless girl. She is just a year older than me, and I count my blessings. In the book I learned about what some homeless families go through and how brave a young girl like Ivy can be in this type of situation."
-Eliza Leal, age 10
"Ivy was great, and I mean it! I hope that Ivy, Lost in New York will also be published."
-Isabel L., age 10
Children’s reviews Ivy, Tale of a Homeless Girl in San Francisco (2000 version)
"Ivy was a story that really seemed as if I was there with the characters. All the parts fit in so well that I almost forgot I was reading a book. It was as if I was watching a movie and could hear their thoughts.... I think this book is great for all ages. Ivy is both fun and moving."
- Anna Moss, age 12
"Ivy was one of the best books I have ever read. I liked it because it taught an important lesson of faith and trust. My favorite character was Ivy because she was an inspiration.... I really enjoyed reading this book."
- Rachel Hodge, age 13
"Because I live in the country, a lot of Ivy’s city life was new to me. Being homeless in a city would be pretty tough. This was a good book. You had to think when you read this book. It would be a good book to use to teach kids about how kids feel when they are homeless."
- Hannah Wasserman, age 11
Critics’ reviews Ivy, Tale of a Homeless Girl in San Francisco (2000 version)
"This is a truly remarkable tale of an all-too-common plight faced by many people. Yet nothing about this story is common....This book will teach your kids truth and forgiveness in the strangest yet most comforting of ways. I also feel you will find yourself unable to put this book down whether you’re a teenager or an adult. Packed with emotion and love, this is a book that needs to be read. You will cry and laugh, but most of all you will wonder to yourself, ‘Bad luck, good luck. Who knows?’"
- CL, ivillage.com
"Summer Brenner has written a quirky, clever story about a young girl’s journey through the streets and homeless shelters of San Francisco.... Ivy is fictional, but her circumstances are honest reflections of life for the many homeless children.... I don’t think children should be sheltered from the harsh realities of life, and homelessness is a very real one. Then again, young readers can be extremely sensitive to a character’s plight. With its happy ending, this novel strikes a good balance between reality and sensibility."
- San Jose Mercury News
"[Brenner’s] living room bookcase is lined with such classic authors as Nabokov, Dickens, and Twain.... their Lolitas, Oliver Twists, and Huckleberry Finns live on, and now, Ivy’s tale of hope lives right alongside them."
-Robin Clewley, San Francisco Chronicle
"[The novel] teaches students what it’s like to be homeless. It also deals with the foster care system, the importance of family, and keeping hope for the future. Seventh and eighth graders at James Denman Middle School in San Francisco were so inspired by the book that they made a quilt about the story of Ivy."
- California Educator
YOUTH NOVELS BY SUMMER BRENNER
Ivy, Lost in New York Richmond Tales, Lost Secrets of the Iron Triangle

Ivy, Homeless in San Francisco © 2011 Summer Brenner This edition ©2011 PM Press All rights reserved
ISBN: 978-1-60486-317-8 LCCN: 2010916484
Map of San Francisco (including chapter excerpts) by August Chevalier, 1911 Courtesy of David Rumsey Map Collection www.davidrumsey.com
Image of Mount Shasta p. 169 "Mount Shasta, Siskiyou County, California" By William Simpson, from: The Illustrated London News. June 7, 1873. Courtesy College of the Siskiyous Library Mount Shasta Collection
PM Press PO Box 23912 Oakland, CA 94623 www.pmpress.org
Reach And Teach 29 Mira Vista Court Daly City, CA 94014 (888) PEACE-40 www.reachandteach.com
Ivy, Homeless in San Francisco is a new edition, edited and revised. Ivy, Tale of a Homeless Girl in San Francisco was published in 2000 by Creative Arts Book Company and illustrated by Marilyn Bogerd.
Cover art and illustrations by Brian Bowes Layout and design by Fran Sendbuehler
Printed by the Employee Owners of Thomson-Shore in Dexter, Michigan. www.thomsonshore.com Printed in the USA on recycled paper
For my dear daughter, Joanna, and her friends, Hannah and Mariel, whose childhoods we shared
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 The February sky was pink and glazed...
CHAPTER 2 Up the hill, something round and glistening...
CHAPTER 3 Ivy strapped the two sleeping bags and tarps...
CHAPTER 4 Poppy deduced that the best route out...
CHAPTER 5 Inside the porch, Ivy and Poppy wove their way...
CHAPTER 6 I have talked both ye ears off, Miss Orr sighed...
CHAPTER 7 Oscar Orr backed his powder-blue 1954 Cadillac...
CHAPTER 8 Poppy pointed to Ivy slumped in the backseat...
CHAPTER 9 At the Buena Vista Center, breakfast was served...
CHAPTER 10 The rain pounded the city...
CHAPTER 11 It was dawn again...
CHAPTER 12 Do you think she’ll call the police?
CHAPTER 13 As Poppy and Ivy jumped out of the car...
CHAPTER 14 The dishes were washed and dried...
CHAPTER 15 We have to be off or Poppy will worry...
CHAPTER 16 Maybe, next time, Rachel called...
CHAPTER 17 I’ve got them! Ivy shouted...
CHAPTER 18 Ivy used to believe her father could do anything...
CHAPTER 19 The policeman pushed Dice away...
CHAPTER 20 That’s better, Officer Harmon said...
CHAPTER 21 The phone at the shelter rang a dozen times...
CHAPTER 22 Officer Harmon sped through the streets...
CHAPTER 23 I guess I didn’t behave very well...
CHAPTER 24 Not going so soon! the signora stammered...
CHAPTER 25 It was quite a homecoming...
CHAPTER 26 Ivy lay on a window seat, tossing her three rocks...
CHAPTER 27 With the help of Signora Quartuccio...
CHAPTER 28 I can’t find him, Oscar said...
CHAPTER 29 Ivy unzipped her lovely dress...
CHAPTER 30 The old Cadillac ambled majestically up the highway...
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to express appreciation for the efforts of all those working on behalf of the homeless, especially the volunteers at the Drop-In Center in Berkeley, California, where women and children can