Mary Driscoll \"Dear America so

Mary Driscoll

"Dear America So far from Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl" by Barry Denenberg. The author of this book, Barry Denenberg has written several books for middle-school and YA readers. He majored in history in college, and worked in publishing for many years. He researched everything from photographs to old music to write this book, and he wrote it in diary form because this series of books is always written in diary form, because many immigrants kept diaries, that we now use for research at the time. This is a very realistic way to introduce readers to history, because these diaries were kind of like the "blogs" of the time, except people did not usually share them with others until they were discovered after their deaths.

The characters in these books are all fictional; the author made them up, but created them as models for real people that he found in his research. He also visited the Lowell textile mills where girls like Mary worked to understand the conditions they faced, and witnessed how these girls worked and lived. The author created these characters to write about the Irish immigrants who came to America during the potato famine in Ireland; because he wanted young people to know what these immigrants faced, and how strong they were to survive. Yes, the various characters give multiple points-of-view, from the young girls who hoped to find a better life, to the older adults who mingled with some of the "Yankees" but were never really accepted in the country. They also show the prejudice the Irish faced when they came to America, similar to the prejudice that immigrants still face today when they come to this country from many people.

The author may have changed events to fit the book in some small areas, but for the most part, it is very close to actual historic events of the time. In the "Life in 1847" part of the book, the author describes what life was really like, and what life on board ship was really like, so the book follows this very closely to make the reader feel that they are experiencing what the immigrants experienced when they came to this country. For example, the author writes, "My sleeping berth is crudely made of splintery wood planks. The ceiling is so low, only the children around me are able to stand without hitting their heads on the underside of the deck" (Denenberg 23). The author makes the conditions very real for the reader, and has done a lot of research to make sure the book adequately represents the time in history. Because he spends a lot of time on research, you can be sure the material in the book is accurate too, and that things like dying at seventeen were common then, and so was working someone to death in the mills.

Yes, I think this novel is a good representation of the time period it was written about, because it puts the reader right into the action, and helps them envision what Mary was experiencing. The author is very good at describing things so that they understand what was happening. For example, he writes, "Mill work suites me just fine, 'twas all I said. I didn't want her to know that my bones ache, my ankles swell up, and my body throbs from heat to toe at night" (Denenberg 79). Anyone who has ever worked hard would know how she feels, and knowing that she had to do this day after day, for the rest of her life, is one of the things that makes this a good representation of the time period and the people.