Missing May (Yearling Newbery)

Author - Cynthia Rylant ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Paperback Book item from Yearling was reviewed on 29-Jul-2008.

Search ISBN:0440408652 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. Missing May (Yearling Newbery) Reference Book. Classifications : General Classics by Age Literature Children's Books Subjects Books Fiction Death & Dying Social Issues People & Places Children's Books Subjects Books General Ages 9-12 Children's Books Subjects Books . Click the following link to view the cover of Missing May (Yearling Newbery).

Related topics: General. Classics by Age. Literature. Children´s Books. Subjects. Books. Fiction. Death & Dying. Social Issues. People & Places.

1) Paperback Book Missing May (Yearling Newbery) by Yearling. This book is actually for preteens but I was required to read it for a class. I loved it so much I ended up rereading it with my 10-year-old son. This book is an amazing story and teaches lots of life lessons.It is about dealing with grief, treasuring life and making unexpected friends.¤

2) Paperback Book Missing May (Yearling Newbery) by Yearling. This book is about great love and the great sorrow when an elderly person dies. Summer was an orphan whose parents died in a great flood. For years, she bounced from home to home, no relative really wanting her. Then she meets her Uncle Ob and Aunt May. They are elderly, poor and not in the best of health. Yet, they are overflowing with love, so they take her in and raise her with what they have.
Suddenly, May dies and Summer and Ob are distraught. Ob has lost the will to live and Summer does not know what to do. A neighbor boy named Cletus comes into their lives and talks about a church run by a spiritualist medium and they decide to visit her and also tour the West Virginia capitol city. When they arrive, they discover that the medium has joined the spirit world, so in a depressed state, they turn back for home.
However, Ob suddenly turns around and they visit the capitol building. The splendor uplifts their spirits and when they arrive home, Summer is overcome by crying and Ob holds her tight. This brings his spirit back and the next day Ob is once again full of life. The book closes with a very touching letter to Summer from May about how they always felt that their poverty kept them from giving Summer all she needed.
If they are lucky, children will suffer the loss of someone who gave them the amount of love and dedication Summer experienced. At that time, they must cope with it and this book will help ease that pain.
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3) Paperback Book Missing May (Yearling Newbery) by Yearling. This book really rubbed me the wrong way. I understand the need to talk about death with kids, but I feel that there are other books that do a better job.

Missing May spends too much time talking about "the spirit world" and not necessarily about whether things are going to work out for Summer. It seems like Ob is toast from the start and that Summer is going to have to fend for herself. Ob is so depressed about the loss of his wife that he about dies from it. Yet, he is somehow rejuvenated by a wacky kid named Cletus who carries around a suitcase full of pictures that he´s collected over the years.

This is a real sad story about how Ob is so determined to be with or talk to his poor old May that he, Summer, and Cletus set out on a journey to find a mystic preacher who supposedly can communicate with the dead. I´m not going to argue about how this book was written because I think it was fairly decent. However, I do have an argument with how this author goes about explaining death in a very obscure way to an assumed young audience. My personal beliefs have me torn on the issue of teaching kids about spirits, ghosts, and contacting the departed this side of the grave. All of that would sound confusing to most kids and perhaps even frightening.

If you are going to tell a story about losing a loved one to death, then you really need to explain a few things. When someone dies they go to another place. People that physically die can live inside our hearts and minds as we remember the times that are spent with them. Also, the author needs convey that some sense of comfort will be given for those left behind. You may choose whether it is proper to talk about heaven and hell depending on your audience, but these are real places and we shouldn´t kid with our children on these matters. Parents should go into more detail with their children regarding death because it is more of a religious matter.

If you are one that doesn´t want to favor any particular religion but wants to help kids better understand death try reading "Come Again in the Spring" by Richard Kennedy or "The Fall of Freddie the Leaf" by Leo Buscaglia. These books will at least help children understand WHY people die. In regards to WHERE we go when we die, this should be a parent´s responsibility to explain.¤

4) Paperback Book Missing May (Yearling Newbery) by Yearling. This story is about a young girl who loses the closest thing she had to a mother and how she grieves. The book is very well written, obviously, as it is a Newberry winner. It really shows the stages of emotion that Summer, the main character goes through and helps children to understand how to hang on to hope. For children that do not have many ideas about death, the book may seem pretty uneventful since a lot of the pages are simply filled with Summer´s thoughts about losing May. For children that maybe have experienced a loss and are ready to grieve or children that want to know more or are concerned about death (which they do need to learn about sometime), this book is a beautiful story about accepting loss and choosing to live life day by day, knowing you will keep the memories, but that not all hope is lost.¤

5) Paperback Book Missing May (Yearling Newbery) by Yearling. The title of this book is Missing May. This book takes place in West Virginia in the mountains. The characters live in a trailer. The main characters are May, Ob, Cleatus, and Summer. In this story Summer´s parents die.
Summer gets passed from aunt to aunt. Then finally Ob and May took her. Then May died in her garden.
Ob and Summer had a hard time dealing with May´s death.
summer thought that Ob would die too. Summer´s friend Cleatus had came to live with Ob and Summer. I would give this book four out of five stars because it was a little bit confusing but evrything else it was great. I recommend people who like hard but also kinda easy books to read Missing May.

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6) Paperback Book Missing May (Yearling Newbery) by Yearling. Since summer was six years old she lived with dear Aunt May and Uncle Ob. Now, six years later, Aunt May has died. Summer, who misses May with all her might, is afraid something will happen to Ob. Most days Ob seems like he doesn´t want to go on.



But then Ob feels May´s spirit around him and he wants to contact her. Cletus Underwood, a strange boy from school, reads about someone who could help him do that. Summer wants to hear from May too.



Ob and Summer don´t know what to expect when they set off on their search for some sign from May. They only know they need something to ease their sorrow and give them strength to go on living--always knowing they will never stop missing may.¤

7) Paperback Book Missing May (Yearling Newbery) by Yearling. This wonderful book revolves around a few delightfully named characters: Summer, Uncle Ob, Aunt May and Cletus Underwood. After being passed among relatives, Summer joins her aunt and uncle and marvels at the couple´s deep love for one another. But after Aunt May dies, Summer and Uncle Ob are brought together in their struggles to come to terms with the death. Cletus, a neighbor boy, comes along to help provide an answer. This simple and sweet story, which won the Newbery Medal in 1993, is injected with just the right touches of humor and mysticism.¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 26-Aug-2008, 04404086529780440408659, 0X0-340-880-520-040-580-8

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