Kathryn Fitzmaurice
HarperCollins Publishers (2009)
ISBN 9780061624971
Reviewed by Sara McGinn (age 9) for Reader Views (2/09)
“The Year the Swallows Came Early” by Kathryn Fitzmaurice is about an eleven-year-old girl called “Groovy” (her real name is Eleanor). She loves to cook and she’s amazing at it too! But she doesn’t expect the following surprising things that happen the year she turns eleven. Her father goes to jail and her mother is the one who calls the police, her best friend’s long-absent mother appears, and the swallows come very early! I would feel very overwhelmed if this happened to me!
Soon Groovy is learning the importance of forgiving. Even after what her father did, she starts to forgive him and realizes how much she misses him. She also finds out how nothing can get in the way of a family needing to get back together.
This book was absolutely fantastic and educational, by teaching the importance of forgiving. I think the author was very talented to write this book because it was a terrific first novel! And I actually felt like I was in the book!
My favorite part of this book was Chapter 21 when she finds proof of the awful thing her dad did. Also, this book was well written for a first novel! Now I have a new favorite author, Kathryn Fitzmaurice!
From reading “The Year the Swallows Came Early” by Kathryn Fitzmaurice, I learned about the importance of forgiving and that you should always forgive so that you don’t regret it! This book is for ages 9-12 but I think it should be for anybody who doesn’t mind a long book!
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