{"id":39619,"date":"2021-06-24T22:52:33","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T02:52:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=39619"},"modified":"2021-06-24T22:59:09","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T02:59:09","slug":"review-of-a-most-clever-girl-by-jasmine-a-stirling-and-vesper-stamper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=39619","title":{"rendered":"Review of A Most Clever Girl, by Jasmine A. Stirling and Vesper Stamper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A Most Clever Girl<\/p>\n

How Jane Austen Discovered Her Voice<\/em><\/p>\n

by Jasmine A. Stirling
\nillustrated by Vesper Stamper<\/p>\n

Bloomsbury Children\u2019s Books, 2021. 44 pages.
\nReview written June 16, 2021, from a library book
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

How do you tell kids about the life of a novelist who writes books for adults? Jasmine Stirling talks about Jane Austen\u2019s supportive family and life circumstances growing up. But she also, in a simple way, explains what kind of writing was prevalent in Jane\u2019s day and how she made fun of it. Here\u2019s how the book begins:<\/p>\n

Jane loved stories \u2013 long ones, short ones, worn and new.<\/p>\n

But there were some kinds of stories that she just couldn\u2019t stand.
\nThese were pale stories with delicate ladies who fainted all the time. (ALAS!)
\nOr gloomy stories with orphans on doorsteps and terrible secrets in the attic. (OOOH!)
\nOr sticky-sweet stories where people fell in love at first sight. (EWW!)<\/p>\n

This was the fluff that was fashionable in those days. Jane found it, well, stale. And predictable.<\/p>\n

You see, Jane had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jane started writing silly stories that poked fun at the fluff.
\nIn one, a pair of pale ladies took turns fainting on a sofa. (ALAS!)
\nIn another, a mother abandoned her baby under a haystack only to discover her alive . . . weeks later. (OOOH!)
\nIn yet another, two children were so hungry they bit off their mother\u2019s fingers. (EWW!)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After this engaging beginning, the book goes on to tell about the circumstances of her life. How her father encouraged her writing. (I love the inclusion of the writing desk he gave her, since I\u2019ve seen that desk in the British Library, and when I did, it brought tears to my eyes.)<\/p>\n

But then money got tight, they moved to Bath, and Jane\u2019s father died. The book takes us through those events and on to the time when her brother gave Jane and her sister and mother a cottage to live in. There, Jane began writing again and found her voice.<\/p>\n

The illustrator explains at the back how much she enjoyed researching on location. She uses pink to represent youthful playfulness, gray for the hard years, and green as Jane found new maturity.<\/p>\n

This book came along just in time for the Jane Austen virtual symposium I\u2019m attending beginning the day after I’m writing this review. The author is going to be speaking and talking about how she attempted to convey Jane Austen\u2019s life in picture book form. I\u2019m looking forward to hearing her speak, already impressed with the results of her work.<\/p>\n

jasmineastirling.com<\/a>
\nvesperillustration.com<\/a>
\nBloomsbury.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/most_clever_girl.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a>