This is the first 1930s Newbery I have read in a long while that I actually had a hard time putting down. And I'm not sure why. The story follows a very poor mom and her two kids during one year in Sweden. There is never any real peril or conflict, though a few of the kids' classmates are punks. I just loved that through the kids' resourcefulness and incredible hard work, they are able to improve their family's situation considerably in just a year. At the start of the novel, they are too poor to even afford an egg for Christmas and by the next winter they own TWO cows. In fact, upon completing the book, I immediately felt the desire to start earning more money for my family. The urge only lasted one morning, but still!
Additional notes:
- The boy's name is Guldklumpen, which may be the most unique name I have ever read in a book ever. And he never uses a nickname! He is Guldklumpen the whole book through.
- Guldklumpen and Nikolina refer to their mom as "the mother" which was weird every time they said it.
- I would much rather my kids grow up poor than rich. So far, so good.
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