SuitabookFaith, hope, and Ivy June
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
- Reading
- Read alongside the child if possible, pausing after each girl encounters the other’s home. Revisit the ending together, particularly how hope, grief and friendship are handled.
- Themes
- Friendship across difference: Ivy June and Catherine enter the exchange with assumptions about one another’s communities, then gradually recognise similarities and develop a deep friendship. The story presents listening, acceptance and looking beyond social difference as valuable foundations for friendship.
- Rural and suburban inequality: The girls experience sharply different levels of money, possessions, chores and community life during their two-week exchange. The story values people and relationships over possessions, while one account cautions that the lifestyle contrast may be exaggerated.
- Illness, danger and grief: The girls face serious family concerns, including a mother’s illness and a mining accident, while the ending involves tragedy and grief. The book leaves its stance open to more than one reading.
- Worth knowing
- Be ready for family quarrels, a mother’s serious illness, a detailed mining accident, deaths and grief. Romance remains at crush level, with flirting and kissing, plus one reference to pregnancy outside marriage.