Plot Summary - This book is set in the 1880's as the terrible Hatfield/McCoy feud grows. These two families didn't live by the law but by their own codes. The love story between Roseanna McCoy and Johnse Hatfield makes the feud grow stronger.
Personal Reaction - I enjoyed reading this book. I felt as thought he author put a lot of her own spin into this book, which she has a right to do, it is fiction. I've always been intrigued by these two families and enjoy reading their history. The language used in the book is relatable to me and my area.
Memorable Literary Element - This book is written from the viewpoint of young Fanny McCoy. The reader is compelled to learn more about Fanny from the beginning. Idioms that may only be recognizable in the Appalachian regions are used throughout the book.
Review - School Library Journal Gr 6-9-Based on the legendary feud between the West Virginia Hatfields and the Kentucky McCoys and narrated by the youngest McCoy, Fanny, this story recounts the escalating bitter feelings and violence between the families. Their feud, simmering since the 1870s, originated in a dispute over a hog, although changing social and economic factors exacerbated animosities. Here, the catalyst that sparks the greatest violence is Roseanna McCoy's liaison with handsome, faithless Johnse Hatfield. The unwed couple lives together for several months until Roseanna returns to her family. An unfinished coffin quilt, a fabric record of Hatfield family births and deaths, and her unborn baby are her only legacy of her stay. Although Rinaldi has kept close to the actual sequence of events of the feud, she has introduced elements of her own creation in her endeavor to explain the "why" of the story. Her interpretation through Fanny that Roseanna "sought destruction of herself. And she'd dragged so many of us with her" is difficult to accept. In addition, it is hard to understand why, in a story that is replete with documented historical violence, the author added gratuitous cruelty in portraying elder sister Alifair's relationship with Fanny as abusive. This violence is unnecessary for either character or plot development, and with such a genuinely brutal story, it seems over the top to include it.-Patricia B. McGee, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Promotion - This book could be used in an Appalachian unit of study. The feud took place between families living in Kentucky and West Virginia and is very much a part of Appalachian history. Students will study the following blog. Students will create their own blog chronicling their own history.
Personal Reaction - I enjoyed reading this book. I felt as thought he author put a lot of her own spin into this book, which she has a right to do, it is fiction. I've always been intrigued by these two families and enjoy reading their history. The language used in the book is relatable to me and my area.
Memorable Literary Element - This book is written from the viewpoint of young Fanny McCoy. The reader is compelled to learn more about Fanny from the beginning. Idioms that may only be recognizable in the Appalachian regions are used throughout the book.
Review - School Library Journal Gr 6-9-Based on the legendary feud between the West Virginia Hatfields and the Kentucky McCoys and narrated by the youngest McCoy, Fanny, this story recounts the escalating bitter feelings and violence between the families. Their feud, simmering since the 1870s, originated in a dispute over a hog, although changing social and economic factors exacerbated animosities. Here, the catalyst that sparks the greatest violence is Roseanna McCoy's liaison with handsome, faithless Johnse Hatfield. The unwed couple lives together for several months until Roseanna returns to her family. An unfinished coffin quilt, a fabric record of Hatfield family births and deaths, and her unborn baby are her only legacy of her stay. Although Rinaldi has kept close to the actual sequence of events of the feud, she has introduced elements of her own creation in her endeavor to explain the "why" of the story. Her interpretation through Fanny that Roseanna "sought destruction of herself. And she'd dragged so many of us with her" is difficult to accept. In addition, it is hard to understand why, in a story that is replete with documented historical violence, the author added gratuitous cruelty in portraying elder sister Alifair's relationship with Fanny as abusive. This violence is unnecessary for either character or plot development, and with such a genuinely brutal story, it seems over the top to include it.-Patricia B. McGee, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Promotion - This book could be used in an Appalachian unit of study. The feud took place between families living in Kentucky and West Virginia and is very much a part of Appalachian history. Students will study the following blog. Students will create their own blog chronicling their own history.