Mary Emma & Company

Mary Emma Moody, widowed mother of six, has taken her family east in 1912 to begin a new life. Her son, Ralph, then thirteen, recalls how the Moodys survive that first bleak winter in a Massachusetts town. Money and prospects are lacking, but not so faith and resourcefulness. "Mother" in "Little Britches" and "Man of the Family", Mary Emma emerges fully as a character in this book, and Ralph, no longer called "Little Britches," comes into his own. The family's run-ins with authority and with broken furnaces in winter are evocative of a full and warm family life.

The fifth book in Moody's autobiographical series is the lightest one yet. The family has moved back east, and needs to make a living- not unlike what they needed to do in Colorado. This time, though, it's a tad more uneventful- and the illustrative stories are just a bit weak. I found the parts about Ralph getting his name written down in the "bad boy book" by the police to be interesting, and I wonder how his memory colored that- was there, in fact, such a book, and if so, could it have been so unfair? There were warm and wonderful passages, of course- but this book could have been twice as long and I would have liked more analysis of their situation and less sledding. On its own, it would probably be a 4 star book, but as part of the show more series, I'm knocking it down one by comparison. show less

Wow, what a strong and faithful mother - and what a great community where people look out for each other and will pitch in and help without being asked. Mr. Moody has a clear, straightforward, enjoyable voice and it gets better with each book.

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