I stumbled across this delightful old book on the off-season shelf at my local library. Apparently, it is out of print, but should be easily accessible to those in the U.S. through interlibrary loan, if it’s not right there on the shelf.
Like Sawyer’s other books (including her popular Newbery Award-winning Roller Skates), Maggie Rose: Her Birthday Christmas is not a simple book. Most of the community around “those Bunkers” condemns the family and looks down on them even as they keep them from starving and going naked. However, from inside the family, you can see their good as well as their severe shortcomings, and see how they have a certain richness that some other families do not.
I love the honesty with which Sawyer handles Maggie Rose’s struggles – to share even when it’s unjust, to do what she feels is right and appropriate even when it goes against her family’s temperament and habits (she never disobeys her parents, however), her problems in finding a way to honestly earn the money she needs (as an underfed 8-year-old girl, there’s not that much physical labor she can perform – instead, she plans months ahead and starts a berry-picking and delivery service).
Also, you can see changes happening in the way the community views the family because of Maggie Rose’s actions. I won’t spoil the story by telling you what happens, but her efforts do not go unnoticed.
This is a beautifully written, unusual book that isn’t just for holiday reading. Sawyer has a gift for conveying the exact feeling of a situation that leaves me breathless on occasion. I give this one a high recommendation.