Backwater

In honor of her Aunt Tib’s eightieth birthday, Ivy Breedlove is trying to compile a family history. But in a family full of argumentative lawyers, very few have time to talk about the past. Then Ivy discovers that her long-lost Aunt Josephine is still alive, living in seclusion in a small cabin in the Adirondacks. In search of this missing piece of her history, Ivy sets off to find Jo with the help of a slogan-spouting guide called Mountain Mama.
I first read "Backwater" during my sophomore year of high school, and I like it as much now as I did then. Ivy is a fun narrator who has many dimensions, even in her single-mindedness, and many teens will be able to relate to her as she struggles to find a place in her family. Bauer's writing show more is both humorous and subtly thought-provoking. Some may find that the ending was too happy too quickly and think it’s unrealistic - but I didn’t! I'd recommend it for girls ages 10-16. show less

Sixteen-year-old, motherless Ivy Breedlove has a genuine calling to be a historian. When her great-aunt's failing vision forces her to stop work on a family history, Ivy takes on the job, doing it so thoroughly that she rattles the rest of the clan. The Breedloves are a strenuous, overachieving New York State family, bred to the legal profession since the first ancestors stepped off the Mayflower. They have also, Ivy finds, produced occasional "backwater" Breedloves--fascinating eccentrics like Ivy's own Aunt Jo, a sculptor living alone deep in the Adirondacks, ignored by the rest of the family. When Ivy hires wilderness guide Mountain Mama to help her track down Aunt Jo for an interview, her life--and that of the entire Breedlove show more family--changes forever. This warm, funny, patchwork quilt of a book offers a sturdy heroine, vivid characters, a touch of romance, and a final survival adventure that will keep readers turning the pages to the last. But Bauer tackles more, bringing in issues of personal and historical honesty, connection between generations, and tolerance for those who follow a different drummer. Pair this with Bauer's Rules of the Road (1998) for a dynamite mother-daughter book discussion. Category: Older Readers. 1999, Putnam, $15.99. Gr. 7-10.
Jean Franklin (Booklist, May 15, 1999 (Vol. 95, No. 18))

Awards, Honors, Prizes:

ABC Children's Booksellers Choices Award Winner 2000 Young Adult Readers United States
Society of School Librarians International Book Awards Honor 1999 Language Arts - Novels, Grades 7 - 12 United States show less

You know, this one didn't grab me at first, the way most of Joan Bauer's stuff does. The cover is great. I'm not sure I believe that the aunt could be living way far from civilization in a place that could be hiked to in one day, in the winter. That seemed odd. But the last third of the story brought it home. I loved the scene where Ivy is standing in the middle of a frozen lake, hauling her wounded aunt on a sled, following her aunt's wolf, and her nature guide is shouting from the bank, "What's your situation?" I laughed out loud.

I ended up liking this book, but I thought the beginning was really slow. The main character is easy to relate to, but she is obsessed with history and especially genealogy which not many kids are into. She may inspire some to look into their family's history, but some may get discouraged when their real families cannot possibly compare to the fascinating history of the Breedloves. Overall I liked it, but it wasn't one of my favorite Bauer books.

I am working my way through all of Joan Bauer's books and I love this one, too! The young Ivy Breedlove is a wonderful character, but it's her Aunt Jo that I'll remember long after I've closed the book. Aunt Jo is eccentric but very real and very memorable as is Mountain Mama. One of the things I also love about Ms. Bauer's books is that the reader learns something along the way: anything from shoes to pumpkins or, in this case, a wintry mountainous trek through the Adirondacks.

As Ivy's strong willed family gets together at the family homestead, Ivy is determined to meet her aunt, a recluse hermit who is the polar opposite of her father and his brother. Her father is a somewhat over the top proud lawyer from a long line of lawyers who's determined that she too will practice law, even though it's history and genealogy that pulls her.

This book, in my opinion, is one of her best. I for some reason really connected with this book. Maybe it was because my grandparents have a ranch and I could really imagine what she was talking about.

Memorable story. Good characters. Fast read. Good stuff.