Praise for Stargone John

"A gently perceptive story of a boy's triumph, as John, with the help of good friends both real and imaginary, learns that language is good." ~Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

"The best kind of historical fiction. . ."~Booklist

"A book for sharing between adults and children. . ." ~School Library Journal

​

Synopsis

"The boy's plain star gone," Ma said, and tugged John forward, and everybody in the classroom heard her words.' Six-year-old John, emotionally withdrawn and resistant to traditional teaching methods, experiences ridicule and punishment at his one-room schoolhouse, until an old retired teacher reaches out from her blindness to share with him the world of reading and writing.

 

Stargone John was published in 1992 by Redfeather books from Henry Holt. It is illustrated by William Low. 

 

This was a wonderful book, and unlike the others in that it lacks the fantasy feeling too it. It reminded my of the Little House on the Prairie books when I read it because it's about a little boy living in the real world. He's just ordinary and he and his sister have a wonderful relationship. 

 

An interesting story behind this one. Ellen Kindt McKenzie wrote it after spending one of Wisconsin's coldest winters with her aunt who had fallen and broken her leg, but refused to move into town for the winter to get help. Ms. Kindt McKenzie heard so many stories about her aunts schooling that she wrote Stargone John just to compensate.