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CORNER OF THE UNIVERSE, A
Set in the small town of Millerton in the 1950s, Ann M. Martin's A Corner of the Universe focuses on mental illness and family secrets as seen through the eyes of eleven-going-on-twelve Hattie Owen.At the beginning, Hattie looks forward to a typical summer of reading, taking walks, and helping take care of the boarders living in her parents' home. Instead, she learns that her family-parents and maternal grandparents-have been harboring a secret embodied in the mentally Adam, who returns home from a mental hospital.Hattie immediately takes to her child-like uncle, but is amazed that the family never mentioned Adam, and is even disturbed by the way her grandparents treat him. Adam's behavior-even his existence-immediately upsets the delicate balance of the universe Hattie's grandmother Nana has worked so hard to create. Most of the conflicts in the novel arise from Adam's conduct in contradiction to the rules prescribed by Nana.Soon Hattie comes to realize that everything she thought she knew about herself, her family, and the Millerton itself is wrong-or at least grossly inaccurate. Her feelings of confusion soon turn to anger, and Hattie too finds herself at odds with her family.Following Adam's sudden suicide and funeral-and a great deal of other changes in her life-Hattie begins to come to grips with the lessons learned from the brief time she had with her uncle, especially about lifting up the corners of the universe and poking around to see what's under there.This novel does a pretty good job of capturing the sudden feelings of isolation and disconnection in early teens regarding friends and family. It would also make a good early connection for later novels which deal with mental illness or with characters who create trouble because they are different and/or misunderstood in some way. (I am thinking in particular of the book Of Mice and Men; A Corner of the Universe even has a character named "Cookie"!).
CORNER OF THE UNIVERSE, A
The summer when 12 year old Hattie Owen first meets her uncle, Adam, he seems a little unusual. Not the quiet freaky unusual, but he's always happy and cheerful. Reciting lines from "I Love Lucy", speaking a mile every second, and constantly saying "Oh, ho ho ho!" Hattie thinks he's great and feels like she's made a new friend. The rest of the town, however, doesn't seem to think so. Adam, who is 21, seems to have a mind of a 6 year old although he can read and speak just fine. Hattie's grandparents are embarrassed of Adam and think he's a circus trick. One of the morals in this book is that you should never be embarrassed of what your child can or cannot do, which is a lesson that Hattie's grandparents eventually learn. Hattie doesn't understand why people stare at Adam, call him names, and hate him when they haven't even gotten to know him. Most of all, she doesn't understand why she has never heard of Adam for the last 12 years. She constantly asks herself: Why is her family hiding Adam from the town and their lives? What is there to hide?A Corner of the Universe, by Ann M. Martin is about prejudice that is put towards the mentally disabled, and how discriminating against others just because they're different can lead to unfortunate consequences. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt like they were superior to someone else or anyone who has been a victim of that. This book is also about Hattie and her family's dark secret. It is that very secret that changes Hattie's life forever and allows her to lift her own corner of the universe. I think anyone who doesn't give this book 5 stars obviously hasn't figured that out.
CORNER OF THE UNIVERSE, A
In the Newbery Honor Novel, A Corner of the Universe, by Ann M. Martin, a heart tearing story comes to life. The novel starts off in October with Hattie, a twelve year old girl looking at home movies taken over the place of the last summer. From the movies, the Author takes us into Hattie's life at the begging of the summer, in the form of a flash back. Hattie is a girl that likes things the familiar way and doesn't want or like change. She doesn't want to think of the big unpredictable world out there, she likes things better in the protection of the families boarding house and its familiar routines. She likes the summer they way it is. Because of that, she was caught off guard when she was told her uncle, that no one has talked about or even told her about, is coming home because his "school" (an institution for mentally disabled) has shut down. Hattie's family must learn to cope with a 21 year old man, coming into their lives, which they have tried to forget about for many years. Her uncle, named Adam, is a guy who has a rollercoaster of moods, child like behavior, and is very unpredictable. What Hattie doesn't know, is that this uncle of hers has the power in him to change the way she looks and accepts life. During the summer, Ann M. Martin takes you on a journey of friendship, trial, and heartache.At the end of this book I was crying, it touched me in a way I never expected it to. We should all learn from Adam and live our lives the way he did by lifting the corners of our universe. Although Adam had a hard life, he was called a Freak, laughed at, had a lot of things he couldn't understand, and would never have the chance to live a normal life. But he learned to change what life has handed to him, to poke around a little, lift the corners, seeing what is underneath, poking that. Sometimes things would work out for him, sometimes they didn't, but he was always exploring. Life is more interesting and fun that way. We should all learn to live our lives like Adam. I think that everyone who reads this book will finish looking at life in a different perspective, live life to its fullest, and not take little things for granted.
CORNER OF THE UNIVERSE, A
This book is about a girl named Hattie Owen. Shes expecting a normal summer in Millerton. Hanging out with Ms.Hagerty, Mr. Penny, Angel Valentine,and Mom and Dad in her boardinghouse. One day she hears Nana (Hatties gradmother) and her mom talking about the death of Hayden. Thats when her curiosity strikes. She immediately thinks of her Uncle Hayden and thinks about Papa (her grandfather). After a while her Mom and Dad wanted to talk to her. She finds out that she has another uncle named Adam. She asks her mother why she hasnt heard of him before and why her mom hasnt told her about him. Her mom replies that Adam has mental problems. Adam is Nana and Papas son. They took him to doctors when he was little and they say he's autistic and all sorts of things. Hattie's mom says that Adam's "special school" has closed down so he's going to come home and stay with Nana and Papa for a while. When Hattie meets Adam she feels awkward. Adam randomly recites phrases and quotes from I Love Lucy. He also repeats things.He also is in love with Angel Valentine and loves to see her but can't a lot of the times because she works at a bank. Hattie likes that Adam is happy but sometimes she feels like she has to babysit him all the time.As Hattie feels like shes his babysitter, mom, and niece she realizes that she and Adam have a lot of things in common. They both sometimes feel like aliens, like they dont belong.Hattie decides that she wants to go to Fred Carmels Funtime Carnival. While she's there she meets a girl named Leila. Leila works at the carnival and so does her family.Hattie tells Leila about Adam and Leila wants to meet Adam. So Hattie sneaks Adam out of Nana's and Papa's house and takes him to the carnival. Adam doesnt like rides but he wants to try the ferris wheel. When Leila, Hattie, and Adam get on the ferris wheel it gets stuck. Adam starts acting crazy and starts to climb out. So some people call the police and take Adam to the hospital. When he comes back home he comes to Hatties house. They sit on the porch and talk.Adam says that he thinks Hattie is one of the people that can lift the corners of our universe. Hattie doesnt get this and doesnt ask. Angel Valentine is at home so Adam and Hattie go upstairs. Adam goes inside and finds Angel with her boyfriend. He runs away and Hattie assumes that he ran to Nana and Papa's house. But when she woke up she found out that Adam hung himself. Adams death leaves the family with tragedy. In a way Hattie gets what Adam means. We need to lift the corners of our universe see what's inside and I think thats a great way to live. I really liked this book and I think you will too.
CORNER OF THE UNIVERSE, A
The book "A Corner of the Universe" is a great book. I read it and I think it has become my favorite book now. It's about a girl named Hattie who finds out that she has a "mental" uncle (with special problems). She has a fun time with Adam. Meanwhile, a girl from the carnival comes and Hattie becomes friends with her. Different things also happen in the middle of it all like this family comes and stays at Hattie's house for a while. At the end, Leila (carnival girl) leaves to go to a diiferent place and Adam is missing. The end is really sad. You have to read the book to find out!I thought it was interesting because it had very descriptive words and gave you a real good feeling and visuale of what was happening. The book was so interesting that i read the last 50 pages without even stopping!
CORNER OF THE UNIVERSE, A
Imagine learning about an uncle you never knew existed. In this 2002 Newbery Honor book, twelve-year-old Hattie Owen meets her Uncle Adam, a mentally disabled man who has been living in an institution that recently lost its funding.During the summer of 1960, people were less likely to dissect family problems than today, the era of the talk show. Adam was a family secret, but Hattie learns to love him. She was planning a summer of trips to the library and ice cream, but now Adam comes with her. He is closer to her age mentally than most adults and has an endless enthusiasm for new experiences. Hattie loves to go to the carnival and is happy to bring Adam along. But she does not know how to handle Adam when he is out of control, such as when she finds him walking in his underwear through the neighborhood or when he disappears. He also becomes angry when he can't have his way.Living with someone who is mentally disabled can be confusing at any age. Best-selling author Ann M. Martin of P.S. LONGER LETTER LATER (written with Paula Danziger) and the BABY-SITTERS CLUB series, does a wonderful job of showing the reader the joys and sadness of the experience, as seen through the eyes of likable teen Hattie.Powerful characters and plot surprises will keep readers interested in this title --- and it is sure to stay with the reader long after the book is closed.--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio