Ida B!

Ida B. by Katherine Hannigan was a great novel that I liked. This story took place in Lawson's Grove,Wisconson 55500 P.O. Box 42 and occasionally in Ernest B. Lawson Elementary. The main characters are Ida B. Applewood, Ida Applewood, Evan Applewood, Lula, and Rufus. The conflict in this story was that Ida B's mother got breast cancer and her life takes a turn from a perfect paradise to a place of mind-numbing torture. This is a very exquisite story!!!!!!!!!!!!

The setting took place in a rural town in Wisconsin named Lawson's Grove, where there were a lot of apple orchards, farms, plants, and flowers and without the apple trees the Applewood family would have been in great debt. Since Ida B. lived in a rural town full of green grass and land, she loved apple trees and she even had long conversations with the trees even though people said it was impossible. In Lawson's Grove there weren't a lot of sky scrapers and big office buildings, so the Applewoods had to travel a long way to get to a hospital. In the setting the town was filled with many water sources such as rivers, streams, and brooks. Ida B. thought that the brook in her backyard traveled all the way to Canada, but she didn't get any proof that it did. The setting was great, but now lets talk about the characters who lived there!

There are many great characters in this story, but the most important are Ida B, Ida, and Evan Applewood. Ida B. is a cheery homeschooled fourth grader who loves the environment, the apple trees in her backyard, and her pets Rufus the dog and Lula the cat, but her lives goes downhill when her mother develops breast cancer, she is forced to go back to public school; which she hates, and her parent's love and kindness towards her, is only thing that motivates her. Next, Ida B's mother Ida Applewood is a caring, devoted, and loving mother and wife who develops breast cancer and starts to loose her hair. The thing that motivates her the most is her family. Last, but not least Evan Applewood. He is a great man who loves his wife and his only daughter, who is also his only child. He is forced to sell part of his family's apple orchard to pay for his wife's medical expenses. That really hurts Ida B. because the people he sold half the apple orchard to, cut it down and the trees were her only true friends. Evan's motivation is his wife. The characters are very important, but the story would be nothing without a problem.

To start with, the saddest thing about this story was that Ida B's life changed dramatically after her mother developed breast cancer, so she hat to find a way to overcome her circumstances. First, Ida B. tried to have fun. She played with her dad and had conversations with the apple trees in her backyard. Second, Ida B. tried to change her negative attitude into a more enthusiastic one. She tried many things like playing with her friends. Last, she tried to turn her enemies into friends. In the process she befriended a girl named Claire and her family. The conflict was sad, but the resolution wasn't.

To end with, the conclusion was my favorite part of the story. It was that Ida B's mother got better and she started to like school. First, Ida B's mother got better. So she'll probably be healthy in no time! Second, Ida started to like school a little bit and she adjusted to many of the things that had happened. It was hard, but she did it. Lastly, her parent's love for her made her forget about her bad consequences and think about how to make them even better. Her parents helped her through thick and thin. In conclusion, I love this book because it taught me that I had the power to turn any bad situation around and I would recommend this book to everyone who reads my blog!!!!!!

It gets 9 out of 10 apples 'cause it was special!

By Abby O.