Scattergood
Written by H.M. Bouwman
A KidLit Love Podcast feature
“Scattergood truly shines, because on some level it investigates not only whether we can survive great loss, but also how. . . . Isn’t that precisely what happens in moments of tragedy? We falter in ways we couldn’t have anticipated, and emotions spiral beyond our control.
What is the proper response to a child’s pain at a time when she is growing into herself, seeking both care and independence?. . . Scattergood is a brave, beautiful book, wise enough to reach for something beyond certainty.”
—The New York Times
"[W]ise and tender. . . . Within the narrow focus of one girl’s coming-of-age in a small town, “Scattergood” raises a lot of big questions about God and fate and sickness and war. To Ms. Bouwman’s credit, the novel resists the temptation to moralize and its characters don’t provide the sort of pat answers that middle-grade readers would easily sniff out. Peggy is a delightfully no-nonsense character to spend time with. Clear-eyed about her own shortcomings, she’s steadfast in her determination to do right by her cousin, occasionally to the point of singlemindedness. As she struggles to navigate her new, not-so-quiet life, Peggy wrestles with her growing realization that there will always be questions that don’t have answers. Her friendships with the residents of Scattergood provide a backdrop for perhaps the most important question the novel raises: In the face of tragedies large and small, how do we accompany the people around us?"
—The Wall Street Journal
★ "Equal parts tender and heartwarming and tragically heartbreaking, this story, which will appeal to fans of Lauren Wolk, also offers a realistic depiction of marriage, showing compromises, challenges, and the different ways people care for and love each other. Readers will become deeply invested in the fully developed characters—each flawed and human but doing their best, Peggy included. The power of stories to connect people with others, bear witness, and create joy is an interwoven theme running throughout the text.
An engaging, textured, and deeply humane coming-of-age novel."
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
★"[A] heartfelt bildungsroman that even adult readers will enjoy. . . . The unfiltered, yet tightly woven narrative culminates as Peggy comes to understand that everything must get worse before it can get better. This is a timeless coming-of-age novel that breathes new life into the middle-grade WWII genre."
—Booklist, Starred Review
“A steady narrative pace and a variety of secondary characters who inspire questions in Peggy solidify the book’s overall appeal.”
—Publishers Weekly
"Bouwman’s writing is crisp and specific, painting a convincing picture of rural life of the period, and she stays firmly in the consciousness of her spirited, questing, analytical, mathematically inclined heroine."
—The Horn Book
"The descriptions of Peggy’s life on the farm are seamlessly woven into the narrative, anchoring it to the rural Midwestern setting. The tone is somber overall, peppered liberally with Peggy’s wry observations. . . . Secondary characters are fully developed and are not reduced to moral lessons. Through Peggy’s strong support system, Bouwman depicts small town life at its best. . . . A powerful coming-of-age story about life, loss, and community."
—School Library Journal