The Locked Garden

June 15, 2009
National Book Award–winner Whelan (Homeless Bird
) sets this straightforward and thoughtful story at an asylum for the mentally ill in 1900. Narrator Verna and her younger sister, Carlie, move to a house on the hospital grounds with their psychiatrist father and dour busybody Aunt Maude (the girls' mother died of typhoid). Verna immediately feels a kindred spirit with Eleanor, the cheerful asylum patient who begins working as a maid for the family. Jealous of the girls' affection for Eleanor, Maude grows increasingly vindictive, until Papa is forced to send her packing. Fearing the appearance of impropriety, given that he and Eleanor (of whom he's clearly grown fond) are both single, Verna's father dismisses her, which sends the young woman spiraling into depression. Though overwrought imagery (“Eleanor was always on my mind, a singing bird hidden high in a treetop”) occasionally bogs down the narrative and an abrupt, inconclusive ending will leave some readers feeling cheated, Whelan adds authentic period flavor and crafts affecting moments—some in the asylum's locked garden—between the sisters and the recovering Eleanor. Ages 8–12.

July 1, 2009
Gr 4-6-Verna and her sister Carlie are still dealing with the death of their mother and the arrival of her harsh and dour sister, Aunt Maude, when their father accepts a position as a staff doctor at a hospital for the mentally ill. When he brings Eleanor, a young patient recovering from depression, into the home to help with the chores, Aunt Maude sees her as a threat while the girls welcome her with joy. Though Maude and Eleanors father bring condemnation and pain into Eleanors life, the children, their father, and the hospital administrator reach out to her with acceptance and love. The story explores the prejudice that shadowed the lives of the mentally ill at the turn of the century as well as what it means to be normal. As Verna stands up for what she thinks is right while trying out questionable means to attain her goals, the author allows readers to experience the development of her maturity and character. At the conclusion of the story, readers see a real girl who has not learned all of lifes lessons and has not made all the right choices but is still in the process of learning and growing. A thoroughly enjoyable read."Debra Banna, Sharon Public Library, MA"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2009
Grades 3-6 When her father, a well-known psychiatrist, accepts a position at a remote asylum in northern Michigan, Verna is reluctant to leave their home, which holds happy memories of her mother, who died two years earlier in 1898. Once settled into their cozy new house on the asylum grounds, though, Verna and her younger sister welcome their new life, particularly after the arrival of their young maid, Eleanor. Although she is a melancholia patient, Eleanor brings a warmth that contrasts sharply with the girls guardian, Aunt Maude, who can be as menacing as a hornets nest. Tensions rise as Aunt Maude grows furiously jealous of the affection Eleanor shares with the girls, who, in turn, plot to send Maude packing. Descriptions of the sprawling, grand asylum and its mysteriously locked wings may leadreaders tosuppose that theyve begun a gothic novel. Theyll quickly realize, though, that the evocative setting is a backdrop to the sensitive, sometimes comedic family story filled with character lessons for Verna and compassionate questions about mental illness and its treatment.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2009
Eleanor, a patient at the insane asylum where Verna and Carlie's father works, takes on household duties for the family. The girls grow to love Eleanor but must reconcile their feelings with what the world thinks of her. Whelan's author's note explains more about the movement during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries to provide humane care for the mentally ill.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)