LSSL 5385: Module 5 -- Historical Fiction

Our Only May Amelia

By Jennifer L. Holm

1)    BIBLIOGRAPHY

Holm, J. (2002). Our only May Amelia. New York: Harper Trophy.

2)    PLOT SUMMARY

May Amelia Jackson is the only girl in her family and along the Nasel River.  She has seven older brothers, but her Mama is pregnant and May’s hoping it’s a girl.  Everyone around her wants her to be a proper young lady, but she’s always on the lookout for her next adventure.  Her family says she’s a miracle being the only girl around, and often say that they only have one May Amelia Jackson.  Her favorite brother is Wilbert, and they often get into mischief together.  Amelia gets her foot caught in a trap while out fishing, and sets out to catch a murderer but ends up running into a bear.  She thinks her father hates her, but he only worries about her safety.  Her grandmother Patience comes to live with them, and stirs up trouble.  Patience barely tolerates children, gives her opinion when it’s unwanted, hits the children with her cane, and even breaks Amelia’s china baby doll.  When her mother finally has the baby, Amelia gets to name her, and chooses Amy Alice Jackson.  Her mother is too sick to care for the baby, so it’s up to Amelia to do it.  Grandmother Patience says that Amelia is not to fit to care for baby Amy, and when the baby dies she blames Amelia.  Amelia runs off, Wilbert follows her, and they end up in Astoria with Uncle Henry and Aunt Feenie.  Their father tries to get them to come back, Amelia won’t go, so they spend the winter in Astoria.  When their grandmother dies of scarlet fever they finally go back to the farm, and Wendell has been sick too.  Jane, a Chinook Indian, gives Amelia and Wilbert something to break his fever, and it works.  Later on, Amelia is in the Nasel River and doesn’t hear the boy warning them that logs are headed down the river.  Wilbert manages to get her out of the river, and Amelia finally realizes she is happy to be there on the Nasel River among her family.

3)    CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Our Only May Amelia is based on Holm’s great aunt Alice Amelia Holm’s life on the Nasel River, and oral histories from her family members and local historical societies.  Holm’s was inspired to write this book because she was intrigued by her great aunt’s diary and wanted to discover her heritage.  It is evident that she heavily researched the time period, and was able to incorporate her family history as well.  Smith Island was homesteaded by her great uncles Isaiah and Henry Smith, and May’s Snag is based on a cousin, Lucy May, who was chatty just like Amelia.  The setting is vividly described and the reader can imagine the houses, logging camps, school house, and prayer house along the banks of the Nasel River.  Holm’s even includes a map of the area at the beginning of the book, which allows the reader to gain a better understanding of Amelia’s surroundings.  She explains how Oregon was settled primarily by Finland, Sweden, and Norway immigrants coming by boat, rather than Americans traveling from the east.  Finnish immigrants, such as Amelia’s parents, came to homestead for the promise of land, timber, and good fishing.  Holm’s mentions the Chinook Indians, who the settlers had peaceful relations with, such as when they brought Amelia back after she got stuck in the trap, and the many times Jane helped their family.  In Astoria, she writes of the Chinese immigrants and how they were treated differently.  The Chinese were to work in the canneries, and weren’t allowed to go out to fish.  They were used as hard labor during that time period.  Also, when Matti was sweet on an Irish girl, he knew his father wouldn’t approve, and so he eloped with her instead of asking for his father’s blessing.  Holm’s touches on the stereotypes among immigrants, and how they were set in their roles during that time.  Amelia is a character that is easy to fall in love with, and you can’t wait to see what she gets into next.  Holm’s does an amazing job with the development of her secondary characters, giving each of the seven brothers a unique bond with Amelia.  Wilbert is her best friend, Wendell sews clothes for her doll, Isaiah takes her to witness an Indian funeral, Matti always sticks up for her, the twins Alvin and Ivan get her out of trouble with their lies, and Kaarlo eventually comes around when they almost get attacked by the cougar.  There is a true theme of family and loyalty and it’s evident through all of her relationships with her brothers.  Holm’s includes a disease that was prevalent during the late 1800s, scarlet fever takes grandmother Patience and threatens to take Wendell too.  Often during that time daughters were to help out around the house, and Amelia is left with the responsibility of taking care of baby Amy when her mother isn’t able to.  Young girls would have to take on the duties of a mother at a young age, and that’s one of the reasons why Amy’s death took such a toll on Amelia.  Amelia has to deal with death at a young age, and on top of that the blame her grandmother cast on her.  Holm’s does a great job of taking Amelia through the stages of grief, and at the end of the book Amelia is finally happy to be at Nasel River among her family.  I thoroughly enjoyed Our Only May Amelia and can’t wait to read of the mischief she gets into next!

4)    REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Kirkus’ Review:  “The book chronicles May Amelia's adventures with her brothers, a brush with a wild bear, conflicts with her mean-tempered grandmother, and the long-awaited birth of a baby sister who later dies in her sleep. The story, which is episodic and somewhat shapeless, careens along before stopping without much resolution. Still, the robust characterizations captivate, the lilting dialogue twangs, and the sharply individual first-person narrative gives the material authority and polish.”  (Reviewed 5/20/10(

Publisher Weekly’s Review:  “Holm's uncanny ability to give each of the siblings--and a wide range of adults--a distinctive character while maintaining May Amelia's spunky narrative voice, gives the novel its immediacy and potency. Through May Amelia's travels, readers witness the diverse ways of life in the expanding West: peaceful relations with the Chinook Indians, the plight of a widow barmaid, the taboos around her brother's interest in an Irish girl, the dangers posed by the neighboring logging camp, her aunt's life in the nearby boomtown of Astoria, Ore., as well as the rhythms of the seasons.”  (Reviewed 5/31/99)

5)    CONNECTIONS

o   This is a great book if you are teaching:

§  Homesteading in America

§  Immigration during the late 1800s

§  Logging Camps and Saw Mills

§  Early Settlers and Diseases

o   Other books with similar stories:

Holm, Jennifer L.  THE TROUBLE WITH MAY AMEILA  ISBN 9781416913733

Dallas, Sandra.  HARDSCRABBLE  ISBN 9781534122918

Coats, J. Anderson.  THE MANY REFLECTIONS OF MISS JANE DEMING  ISBN 9780606408554

Larson, Kirby.  HATTIE BIG SKY  ISBN 9780385733137