A fantastic cozy feeling throughout the whole book. I read the entire thing curled up under a blanket! I loved the character of Marly - such a clever and big-hearted girl, with a sympathetic point of view. Finally, I really enjoyed Sorensen's simple style. The scenes said just enough, no more. My quibbles would be (1) the dated writing (all that talk of what girls can't do!), and (2) the lack of a life-changing theme. I felt like the "miracles" theme could have been intensified and developed a bit more. But a very beautiful book nonetheless! ( )

Marly and Joe (ages 10 and 12) are two siblings who have always lived in the city. They and their mother had endured the apparent loss of their father during wartime (unclear which war - perhaps Korean) only to discover that he had been a prisoner of war. The family is finally reunited, but their father has changed; he is bitter, touchy, angry, always tired.

Their mother had always spoken of Maple Hill and her grandmother's house that she and her brother had visited each summer as children. Her grandmother had been dead for 20 years, but Marly and Joe loved to hear stories of simple life in the country.

Their mother has a plan. Her grandmother's house has been unoccupied for years, but if they went there for a long visit, perhaps that would help her husband's troubles. And so, they pack their bags and head to rural Pennsylvania just in time for the sugar season...

This is a delightful story that embodies the human need for spending time with God's creation and the virtues of simple living. The writing is interesting and engaging, but not too hurried, with many details about how things are done on a farm (especially the sugar season), plant and animal life, etc. ( )

Miracles on Maple Hill is the 1957 Newbery winner that is about a family who at first just visit and then move to rural Pennsylvania to the old family farm. They make these changes to help cope with the father returning home after the war. The story is told from Marly’s viewpoint, the ten-year-old daughter and the title gives a clue of the wonderful things that happen to the family at Maple Hill.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and don’t let the 1957 scare you off, it really is timeless. Sorensen gives wonderful descriptive details of the characters and also the setting. I could actually visualize the syrup making process

You could have students read this book to make comparisons of the differences between 1957 and now. You could also make this book a part of a unit on how different things are made, like the maple syrup in this book.

Marly and her family share many adventures when they move from the city to a farmhouse on Maple Hill.

Miracles on Maple Hill, by Virginia Sorensen, was selected as the Newbery Award winner in 1957. While some of the older Newbery winners seem to be outdated in today’s world, this book is filled with relevant historical and emotional topics.

As I read the book, I was struck by the imagery and sense of place which was strongly developed by Sorensen. I have never been to visit the northern United States, but I feel like I have been there – visited four times in a year and caught a glimpse of each season.

The story revolves around a family. The father has returned from the war (which is unnamed) and is having difficulty returning to the civilian life. How appropriate is that in the lives of children today? The mother and two children are concerned about the father and wish that he would return to his old self. To help with this process, the family visits the grandmother’s old place in rural Pennsylvania – a place called Maple Hill, where miracles happen!

The story is told from the perspective of the daughter, Marly, who immediately falls in love with the mountain and the wonder of the rural life. The father stays on fulltime at Maple Hill, while the family visits every weekend. The strength of the novel is the descriptions of the flora and fauna in the area and especially the gathering and processing of the maple syrup.

Other reviewers have talked at length about this spirit of the place, and I invite you to read them at http://newberryproject.blogspot.com/ !

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