Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance - Softcover

Jocelyn, Marthe

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0887767672 ISBN 13: 9780887767678

Publisher: Tundra Books, 2006

Synopsis

Winner of the 2005 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award
It is 1901 and Mable Riley dreams of adventure and of becoming a writer. When her older sister leaves home to become a schoolmistress in the small town of Stratford, Ontario, Mable is sent along too. Mable hopes her new world will be full of peril and romance. But life at the Goodhand Farm (where the sisters board), is as humdrum as the one she’s left behind.

Then Mable encounters the mysterious Mrs. Rattle, a peculiar widow with a taste for upsetting the townspeople with her strange opinions. Mrs. Rattle is a real writer, and Mable eagerly accepts her invitation to a meeting of the Ladies Reading Society. But the ladies are not discussing books at all, and Mable may soon have more peril than she’d bargained for!

Composed of the letters Mable sends home, the poems she writes for her classmates, and chapters from her own work-in-progress, Mable Riley is the funny, inspiring, (and reliable) record of a young girl finding her voice, and the courage to make it heard.
From the Hardcover edition.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

It is 1901 and Mable Riley dreams of adventure and of becoming a writer. When her older sister leaves home to become a schoolmistress in the small town of Stratford, Ontario, Mable is sent along too. Mable hopes her new world will be full of peril and romance. But life at the Goodhand Farm (where the sisters board), is as humdrum as the one she's left behind.
Then Mable encounters the mysterious Mrs. Rattle, a peculiar widow with a taste for upsetting the townspeople with her strange opinions. Mrs. Rattle is a "real writer, and Mable eagerly accepts her invitation to a meeting of the Ladies Reading Society. But the ladies are not discussing books at all, and Mable may soon have more peril than she'd bargained for!
Composed of the letters Mable sends home, the poems she writes for her classmates, and chapters from her own work-in-progress, "Mable Riley is the funny, inspiring, (and reliable) record of a young girl finding her voice, and the courage to make it heard.

About the Author

Marthe Jocelyn is the author-illustrator of three picture books and author of several novels, including the acclaimed EARTHLY ASTONISHMENTS as well as THE INVISIBLE DAY, THE INVISIBLE HARRY, and THE INVISIBLE ENEMY, all illustrated by Abby Carter. Of the inspiration for this book she says, "I found my grandmother’s journals, written more than 100 years ago. Hidden on the back pages were her terrible efforts at poetry. My grandmother was more like the pious sister, Viola, than my witty and undaunted heroine, but I am ever grateful for her need to record the particulars of collar-ironing and the selection of hair ribbons." Marthe Jocelyn lives with her husband and two teenage daughters.

Edition details

• Publisher: Tundra Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0887767672
• ISBN 13: 9780887767678
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256