Ship of Dolls
Written by Shirley Parenteau
Narrated by Kate Reinders
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
It's 1926, and the one thing eleven-year-old Lexie Lewis wants more than anything is to leave Portland, Oregon, where she has been staying with her strict grandparents, and rejoin her mother, a carefree singer in San Fransisco's speakeasies. But Mama's new husband doesn't think a little girl should live with parents who work all night and sleep all day.
Meanwhile, Lexie's class has been raising money to ship a doll to the children of Japan in a friendship exchange, and when Lexie learns that the girl who writes the best letter to acccompany the doll will be sent to the farewell ceremony in San Fransisco, she knows she just has to be the winner. But what if a jealous classmate and Lexie's own small lies to her grandmother manage to derail her plans?
Inspired by a project organized by teacher-missionary Sidney Gulick, in which US children sent more than 12,000 Friendship Dolls to Japan in hopes of avoiding a future war, Shirley Parenteau's engaging story has sure appeal for young listeners who enjoy historical fiction, and for doll lovers of all ages.
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Reviews for Ship of Dolls
17 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In 1926, a teacher missionary organized an event for the American children to send more than 12,000 dolls to Japan in hopes of avoiding a future war. Clearly, the mission didn't work but Parenteau's novel based on this little-known event in history works from the get go. What kid wouldn't want to pick up a book that starts with "I dare you. I double-dare you" (Parenteau, p. 1). Lexie is immediately caught up in a moral dilemma that never lets up. She wants the chance to hold the doll, so she takes the dare -- something her strict grandparents with whom she is living would not approve of. But there's a little bit of her carefree mother in her, and her mom who is nurturing a new marriage and a singing career in California would definitely accept a dare. Getting caught trespassing (in her teacher's house no less ) just to hold the special doll that her class is sending to Japan starts a whole chain of events that makes Lexie think hard about what's right, about who to believe, and what makes her happiest. A fast-paced historical novel with lots of action, Ship of Dolls holds particular appeal for young girls. It deals with getting caught up in lies, jealousy, and competition as the girls are promised that whoever rights the best letter will accompany the doll to San Francisco.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the 1920s children in American saved their pennies to send dolls to Japan. In all, over 12,000 dolls were sent to Japan in an act of friendship and as an attempt to prevent war between the two countries. Lexie, an 11-year-old, is excited about the doll her class is sending for that and another reason: Lexie is in Portland with her grandparents while her widowed mother is in San Francisco and Lexie wants to win the honor of accompanying the doll to its sendoff in San Francisco so she can also see her mother. This has a strong story line with an interesting bit of forgotten history.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Pace was off, and the only consequence seemed to be that she would get yelled at.