Weeds in Bloom

May 23, 2005
A respect for humanity shines through Peck's (A Day No Pigs Would Die
) unique autobiography, related in a colloquial, conversational style. Rather than presenting a chronicle of his life in a conventional fashion, the author instead pens a series of character sketches—the people who have helped to shape him ("For you, I harvest wild herbs of humanity.... Weeds in bloom," he writes in the prologue). Peck fondly recalls the stoic, hard-working folks who molded his values when he was growing up poor in rural Vermont—family members (including his 110-year-old Aunt Ida, who reputedly killed a "drunken half-crazed Saint Francis Indian.... At the time, she was only nine. Others said eight") and other members of his boyhood community. There's Early Pardee the horse shoer, who begins his workday before dawn, and teacher Miss Kelly, who believes in "Scholarship, Manners, and Soap." Peck also pays tribute to mentors who encouraged him to spread his wings, and crystallizes the essence of various misfits he meets later in life, in Florida. His chance encounters with an aging quilter, a sugar-cane cutter and a girl who lives in the swamp reveal the author's keen power of observation as well as his sensitivity. Downplaying his own accomplishments and personal details (experiences with marriage, parenthood and book writing get only brief mentions), Peck invites readers to look through his eyes and share his admiration for the extraordinary human beings who have crossed his path. Ages 12-up.

July 1, 2005
Short vignettes capture encounters from Peck's life. While some are delightfully well paced, others are too loaded down with description and awkward phrasings to be enjoyable. Stories of important figures in Peck's earlier life tend to be overly poetic; tales from encounters as a young man and beyond ring with more authenticity.

(Copyright 2005 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2005
Gr 9 Up -A veteran author creates his autobiography in an atypical fashion, by spotlighting people (and a few dogs) who have had an impact on his life. Thus he provides readers with a series of essays or character sketches in which he plays a supporting role. Some of the players in the first of three sections, "Vermont Boyhood," will ring bells with fans of Peck's "Soup" stories (Random). In "Early Manhood," he looks into his time in the army and his work experiences, including stints in a paper mill and in advertising. "Florida Years" features interesting personalities -an old man living in a shack in the woods with his dog, a waitress at a small diner, Jamaicans in the sugar-cane fields of Florida. These are folks to whom life has often been less than generous, but Peck has found in them wisdom, tenacity, and tenderness. The final chapter, "Just As I Am," is a compilation of Peck's words to live by. There is humor, as one might expect, and a good deal of near-heartbreaking pain, along with a dollop of hokum here and there. Because Peck has not written of his life as a writer, these essays are as likely to appeal to readers who have never heard of him. Perhaps they are more likely to appeal to adults than to teen readers who may not yet have lived long enough to see the strength required to live an "ordinary life."" -Coop Renner, Hillside Elementary, El Paso, TX"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2005
Gr. 8-11. Peck's exquisite autobiographical novel " A Day No Pigs Would Die "(1972) is a classic, though its sequel and many of the author's other books were far less successful. Now in his 70s, Peck uses a series of essays to look back on his childhood and coming-of-age in rural Vermont, and then at his semiretirement in Florida. The nostalgia is often heavy, and Peck's audience is more likely to be elderly adults than teens--though even grown-ups may tire of his message: the farm boy is not into "literature" or things "fancy or fine"; "nothing uppity" for Peck. There are a few great selections though, mostly spare, hard accounts about work--laboring in the paper mill, in the sawmill, and as a sugarcane cutter. And readers of all ages will be moved by Peck's bond with animals; his restrained description of putting down his beloved blind dog is, well, literature.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)