The World of Daughter McGuire
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
"Daughter--that's my name. Daughter McGuire--I'm eleven."
When Daughter McGuire, her mother, and her younger brothers, Satchel and Jerry Lee, move next door to her grandparents, she's faced with starting over in a new school, making new friends, and keeping clear of troublemakers like the Avengers. Life would also be easier if her father hadn't run off to Colorado. If her parents were together again, her mother's creepy friend Jim Signet wouldn't be hanging around.
But things pick up when Daughter and her classmates Connie and Anna discover Topknot Cave and start the Explorers Club. And at school Mrs. Jackson, Daughter's teacher, suggests an exciting family heritage project. The hitch is that some people think that Daughter's family heritage is too "mixed-up". According to her family tree she is African-Italian-Irish-Jewish-Russian-American. One of the Avengers calls her a "zebra", because one of her parents is black and the other is white. Daughter is so upset, she begins to wonder what she should call herself.
As her project comes together, Daughter learns more about her background and the story of the courageous woman whose name she carries. Little does Daughter McGuire know that her own courage will soon be tested in a way she had never dreamed of.
Sharon Dennis Wyeth wrote The World of Daughter McGuire because she wanted to issue a challenge. As she says, "Daughter McGuire's world is by no means perfect. Parents don't behave the way you want them to and there are cruel acts of bias. But there is also humor in this world and love aplenty in Daughter, Satch and Jerry Lee's not-so-typical, typical extended family. I want my readers to make connections in spite of external bias, to celebrate ourselves as individuals in a world where conscience counts more than color."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A school project, recording family traditions, inspires 11-year-old Daughter McGuire to learn more about her heritage and establish her own identity: no easy task for a girl whose grandparents are, respectively, African American, Italian, Irish-Catholic and Russian-Jewish. Daughter has just moved to a new neighborhood, where she becomes a target of racial slurs; she also has to cope with an assortment of family problems that stem from her parents' recent separation. Resolutions coincide with the protagonist's realization that it is all right, even good, to be different. Wyeth (the Pen Pal series, Once-In-A-While Dad ) deserves commendation for her compassionate rendering of contemporary families. Her characters, particularly Daughter's grandparents, prove to be as endearing as they are unique. Almost all preteens will be able to relate to at least one of the conflicts in Daughter's world, and many will find comfort in this book's optimistic conclusion. Ages 8-12.
