Clover

A realistic voice coming from the South. The author, Dori, is an inspiration.

Such a still very current book in so many ways---Clover is very appealing with her young but "40 year old" view of the world as the very sudden daughter of her equally suddenly widowed stepmother.

I won this book from LibraryThing's September give away. When this book arrived this Friday, I sat down to see what it was about and where in the pile of my unread books it would go. Well, I read it straight through! Clover is a precocious 10 year old who on her father's wedding day becomes an

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orphan with a brand new stepmother she barely knows. It's a truly beautiful story about what makes a family. While this book was written in 1990, it's just as fresh as if it was just written.

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This is a sweet little story about a young black girl, Clover, whose daddy married a white lady. Before they even got home for their wedding supper, there was an automobile accident in which Clover’s daddy was killed, and her new stepmother was injured.

After her stepmother was released from the

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hospital, there they were – a black ten-year-old with a white stepmother she barely new, living in the black part of town. They gradually grew fond of each other, and the other black relatives finally adjusted to the white woman’s being in their midst. What else would you expect?

I was going to suggest that there should have been more character and plot development and perhaps shouldn’t have ended so soon and so tied up with a ribbon. Then I realized this is a young adult book, which made a difference. For that age group in general, this is just the right speed; therefore, I gave it four out of five stars, instead of three.

It does look slightly into race relations in the American South and shows how blacks object to mixed marriages as much as do whites. At least, they used to. Don’t forget, the time of this story is not current, and the attitudes match the time frame.

The essay about her life and family by the author at the end of the book is as good as the book, which is easy to read and worth an afternoon of your time.

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Clover is an interesting, enjoyable quick read. It tells the story of precocious 10 year old Clover who loses her father and embarks on the journey to learn to love her stepmother. Since the story is told through a child's eyes, in a South Carolina town that was not ready for a mixed-race marriage,

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there is not much depth to her thoughts and relationships. There is however, a lot of wisdom.

Also included in the book is a lengthy author's note. This is also very interesting. I just wish more of her childhood environment and experiences had been woven into the novel.

I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review.

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Dori Sanders' 1990 novel is a work of young adult fiction, written in the voice of Clover, a 10 year old African American girl living in rural South Carolina. As the story begins, we learn that Clover's father has been killed in a car accident on his way home from his honeymoon. Sara Kate, his

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caucasian bride, finds herself with no husband, and the task of raising her new young step-daughter, surrounded by a group of relatives and townspeople who mistrust and dislike her. The book's focus is on the developing relationship between Sara Kate and the rest of the extended family. Told in Clover's innocent and honest voice, the story is moving and easily read in one day. Clover is an enjoyable read.

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Drawing from the author’s childhood experiences, she writes a simple, but touching, book about a young African American girl who struggles to accept the loss of her father when he dies in an accident within hours of being married. Clover needs to overcome her grief and she does this with the help

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of her new white stepmother. . A recurring theme throughout the book is learning to accept differences, both of race and socio-economic status. I really enjoyed the author's notes at the end of the book, talking about her life growing up on one of the oldest African American owned peach farms in South Carolina.

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I wanted to like this book as I have enjoyed so many other like it. But in comparing it to Cold Sassy Tree and Secret Life of Bees, this one does not quite match those. I thought it was a quaint story, just not one I was compelled to keep reading. I found I liked the author's note at the end of the

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book so much more. Perhaps for a younger reader this would be ok, but, again, there are many in this genre I would suggest before this one.

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Nice little story about acceptance and what family really is. I enjoyed the descriptions of Southern life quite a bit. All in all, it was a sweet and simple read with likable characters. In Clover, I found one smart and extremely brave little girl, even if she did seem oddly mature for her age at

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times but I guess losing your father suddenly and having to live with his wife whom you don’t know would constitute a “grow up quick” moment. If you want a light, easy read with decent prose and not too much drama, Clover is for you!

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A young black girl in South Carolina loses her father to a car accident the very day he marries a white woman. Clover is left in the care of her new stepmother, Sara Kate, and must come to terms with the differences between them and she insightfully discerns Sara Kate’s efforts to fit into

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Clover’s family and community.
Clover has a child’s sensibility and a way of viewing the world that is dependent upon how much is inadvertently revealed to her when adults are ignorant of her presence. This is very realistic and well done. She tells her tale in seemingly unrelated vignettes which move back and forth through time, giving the reader a more and more complete picture of her life and family.
Her perspective is interesting and worthwhile, particularly if one is dissimilar from her and unfamiliar with her world. Recommended for the slice of life that is revealed to the curious reader.

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This book was filled with interesting characters that were immensely likable. Clover is a 10 year old African-American girl who has just lost her father. Her mother died when she was young, and her father had just married a white woman. The story weaves through the eyes of Clover as the family

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learns to love each other despite all their differences.

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Clover Hill is a ten-year old girl headed to her father's funeral. He mother has already passed. She has no tears. Her new stepmother doesn't either.

Gaten Hill has been raising his daughter as a bachelor for the past few years with the help of his father, brother, sister-in-law, and the community.

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Gaten also happens to be Clover's principal. They are finally settling into their life together after much tragedy. Another "unsettling" is on the horizon and this one does not result in a quick recovery.

Clover is familiar with death. She has had to adjust to death all her life. Clover's family unit surrounds her with so much love so quickly that her transitions are less rocky. Sara Kate her new step mom doesn't have this luxury. Her transition is rocky to say the least. Sara Kate's perseverance and sheer determination brought forth the healing that everyone needed.

What I appreciated the most about the book is the depicting of the unity and flaws of family. The southern imagery was amazing which is always a delight for me. This would be a great book for young readers in general but especially those that are trying to cope with the death of a loved one.

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I have conflicting thoughts about this young adult fiction novel. I like the fact that it deals with race relations - in the family and community in the 1980's - and from the innocent eyes of a ten-year-old child. Yet, Clover, the child-narrator, has been through so much in her young life that her

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emotions do not adequately reflect her recent traumas. Intellectually her pain is stated, but emotionally, that deep raw ache such an age and experience would normally elicit, is not palpable.

Likewise, Sander's characters, with the exception of Everleen, lack dimension. Ironically, they have colorful backgrounds, yet their expression, formed by the author's writing style, lacks depth. The author may have tried to convey that somewhat murky experience we interpret from the eyes of a child, but the intensity of this experience falls short.

Sanders novel also struggles with fluency. Weaving back and forth through time is not a problematic technique. However, Saunders method is choppy. It takes away from the novel's sense of continuity, feeling more like interruptions than reflections.

Now comes the irony. Despite all of the above, Sander's has written a sweet and charming book. Maybe it is because of Clover 's innocent soliloquies. The reader cannot help but love her and feel deeply for her. Maybe it is the circumstances. As an adult you want to protect her and hope, with the love of her family (despite their contradictions), she will turn out all right.

Overall, Dori Sanders has written a good book and story line. Her characters are interesting; they are simply not developed as much as they could have been considering the intensity of the subject matter. It is unfortunate, improvement of these qualities would have resulted in an exceptional work of literary fiction.

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Gaten was killed in a car accident just a few minutes after marrying Sara Kate. Gaten left behind a 10 year old daughter named Clover. Gaten was black, Sara Kate was white. This really had very little to do with the story, which actually could be a good thing. Instead of focusing on the differences

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between the colors the author just focused on what was going on with the 10 year old, who was left to be raised by Sara Kate, a woman she barely knew. Clover is a nice little story about compassion, kindness and love. It's an easy read.

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When I requested this book I thought it was right up my alley it sounded like something I should love I have been trying to read this little book for weeks, it just didn't grab me and was very easy to put down and try something else. The writing is sparse and I wanted more, I wish there had been

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more background on Gaten and Sara Kate instead of jumping right in with his death , it was hard to tell just how long Gaten and Sara Kate had been dating before they married. There were also times it was hard to tell if it was past or present.

I liked the last 50 or so pages the best it gave me the most insight into the main characters before that I just didn't feel much of a connection with the characters.

From the afterward we see this is somewhat autobiographical, but without the white step mother and maybe this would have been more interesting if she had just told her family's story.

I wanted to know more about the characters and by the time I started to the book was over. This one just didn't do it for me.

2 1/2 stars

I received this book from Librarything and the publisher for a fair and honest review.

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This is a beautiful, soft, sad, and sweet story told by Clover Lee Hill, a ten-year-old black girl living in South Carolina. It reads almost like a diary. Clover's mom was no longer alive. Her dad, Gaten Hill, dies suddenly in an automobile accident just hours after marrying Sara Kate, a white

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woman. That leaves Clover in the care of a stepmother she hardly knows.

In the first half of the novel, we meet Gaten’s extended family and see their reaction to his dating a white woman. Most of the family at first seems skeptical. Later most remain unhappy with his choice to marry Sara Kate, but they were not downright hateful so this novel at least starts out with a glimmer of hope and on an upbeat note. Gaten’s sister Everleen did tell Clover, “People need to be accepted and judged by the kind of person they are inside, not on the basis of the color of their skin.”

As the novel progresses, we see family and friends interact and bonds tighten. It's really lovely how this happens and is reflected in Clover's words. Of all of the qualities of this novel, I think its gentleness is what moves me the most.

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