Nory Ryan's Song

 Module 5 Book 1

Bibliography

Giff, P. R. (2000). Nory Ryan's song. Delacorte Press.

ISBN: 0385321414

Plot Summary

Nory Ryan is 12 years old, and we follow her story. This book focuses on her life and hardships during the Irish potato famine in 1845. Nory’s family is split apart; her mother died years before in childbirth of her brother, her older sister Maggie went to America, and her Da is off fishing. At 12 years old, she takes care of her brother and finds a way to keep faith and keep them both alive. Through the story, we see how strength and friendship helped Nory Ryan save her family and join thousands of other Irish in America.

Critical Analysis

Nory Ryan’s Song is a historical fiction book, and Patricia Reilly Giff shows the devastation of the famine. Nory talks about the evictions of family, starvation, deaths of both people and animals, and the loss of hope because of failed crop. There were times in the book that I had to keep reminding myself that Nory was just a child. The harshness of this life made it so that she had to grow up too fast to survive. This book makes it great for students to relate to because they are supposed to be the same age or close to the same age. This can be a great comparison for students to look at their responsibilities compared to Nory’s. This was easy to follow, and Ms. Giff gave the right amount of details for the reader to truly picture what was happening, the feelings, and the world around them. 

This book covers stories of survival, historical injustices, immigration, colonialism, and poverty. These are all great conversations to lead into lessons of this time period. Depending on the school location, there is bound to be one student who could relate to each of these topics.

Review Excerpts

Newbery Medal-winner Giff (Lily's Crossing, 1997, etc.) weaves wisps of history into this wrenching tale of an Irish family sundered by the Great Potato Famine. The three Ryan sisters, their mother dead and their "da" away at sea, are struggling to make ends meet and care for old Granda and three-year-old Patrick, as their predatory English landlord waits for his rent on one side and America's golden promise glitters over the horizon on the other. Heralded by an ominous odor, blight sweeps through the potato fields, wiping out the crops overnight. Through young Nory's eyes, the aptly named Great Hunger is devastatingly real: not only do livestock and grain disappear, but so do shellfish and kelp, and finally even nettles and other weeds. Families are mercilessly driven from their homes, the dead are buried without ceremony, and little Patrick becomes ever thinner and more pitiable. Grasping at a sudden chance, big sister Maggie takes off for America, then Granda and teenage Celia set out for Galway, hoping to meet Da on the docks—leaving Nory to care for Patrick, and for old Anna Donnelly, a neighbor with a tragic past, as well. Nory makes the hardest sacrifice of all when an emigrating family invites her along and she sends Patrick in her place. So grim is the picture Giff draws that readers are likely to be startled by the sudden turnaround at the end, when news of Da's reappearance brings ship's passage for all and the prospect of a happy reunion in New York. Still, Nory's patient, stubborn endurance lights up this tale, and the promise of better times to come is well deserved. Riveting. (Fiction. 11-13). . . Haahr, Berit THE MINSTREL'S TALE Delacorte (249 pp.) Aug.2000

Kirkus Reviews

Awards and Recognitions

• Nebraska Golden Sower Award (Nominee – Honeybee (Chapter Book) – 2003)

• Texas Bluebonnet Award (Nominee – 2002)

• Wyoming Indian Paintbrush Award (Nominee – 2003)

• Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award (Nominee – 2003)

• Great Stone Face Book Award (Nominee – 2002)

• Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee – Grades 6-8 – 2002)

• Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award (Nominee – 2003)

• Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee – Junior – 2003)

• William Allen White Children's Book Award (Nominee – Grades 6-8 – 2002-2003)

• Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (Nominee)

• Mark Twain Readers Award (Nominee)

• Golden Kite Award (Honor – Honor, Fiction – 2001)

• Flicker Tale Award (Nominee – Juvenile Books – 2003)

• Colorado Children's Book Award (Nominee – 2003)

• Rhode Island Teen Book Award (Nominee – 2001)

Connections

• Have students gain the background knowledge of where Ireland is and their language compared to English. 

• Research other countries that have suffered from and are still suffering from poverty and starvation

• Research what blight is.