A Stitch in Time (Quilt Trilogy, Volume 1) - Softcover

Rinaldi, Ann

3.76

1,325 ratings by Goodreads

9780590460569: A Stitch in Time (Quilt Trilogy, Volume 1)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0590460560 ISBN 13: 9780590460569

Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks, 1995

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With quilting on the rise as a hot trend, it's time for this reissue by our top historical-fiction maven. The brilliantly woven 1st book "will leave readers in eager anticipation of its successors"-PW

"Everyone who has touched their lives...will have a square in the quilt."
Hannah is the strong one. The one who cares for her brothers and sisters; the one who's kept the family together. But now, everything is changing. Her father is more distant, and her siblings are starting lives of their own. That's when Hannah decides to make a quilt. A quilt of fabrics from people who are special to the family; people they trust. And when the sisters are separated, Hannah makes sure they each have a piece of the quilt. The quilt she hopes will bring her family together again.

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From Kirkus Reviews:

Set in late 18th-century Salem, Massachusetts, first of a projected trilogy (to trace three generations) in which a quilt made by three sisters is the central motif. Hannah, the eldest, is the glue that keeps the troubled Chelmsford family from flying apart. Autocratic Father, embittered by a single infidelity by his deceased wife (whom he abused), favors bratty daughter Thankful and rejects illegitimate son Cabot. Hannah and her brother Lawrence conspire in sister Abigail's planned elopement with South Carolina sea captain Nate Videau. Hannah's own earlier romance, squelched by her father, enables her to realize her love for poor but ambitious Richard Lander. Hoping to prevent her from revealing Abby's plans, Hannah encourages their father to take Thankful to the Ohio Territory--where she is captured by Indians and ultimately chooses to remain with them. Meanwhile, each sister works on a piece of the quilt, which Hannah has decided will symbolize trusted people in their lives. Mr. Chelmsford becomes a partner in an early cotton mill; Hannah is drawn into social work on behalf of its exploited workers. Though Rinaldi's research (detailed in a note) occasionally intrudes, it also keeps the setting and flavor authentic. Characteristically for this writer, dialogue is an awkward mix of contemporary and period idiom (Videau's southern accent is particularly inconsistent). Still, the memorable characters and their historically accurate context balance the flaws, raising the story from the soap-opera level. Bibliography. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright �1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 6 Up-This first book in a projected trilogy presents the embittered Chelmsford family of Salem, Massachusetts, circa 1780. From young Cabot, who longs to go to sea; to Abigail, who runs away with her Southern beau; to Thankful, the saucy favored daughter; to Lawrence, the handsome older brother; to Hannah, the eldest and the narrator, readers are drawn into the struggles of a post-Revolutionary war family. Nathaniel, the patriarch, is aloof and puritanical. He leaves for a trip to the Ohio frontier and takes Thankful with him. With two sisters gone, one brother in rebellion, and the other leading the western expedition, Hannah is left as the family sentinel. She takes solace in the quilt she is making from scraps given to her by special friends and family. As she tells her story and stitches her quilt, the patchwork of their lives takes shape. Hannah grows as she learns to cope with startling facts of her deceased mother's life, the return of an old flame, and her own love for a dashing sea captain. There is plenty of personal interest, adventure, humor, fear, and joy in this ambitious novel, and more action than in Rinaldi's In My Father's House (Scholastic, 1993). The appealing characters ring true. However, this is a long book, and Rinaldi occasionally waxes philosophical as Hannah ponders her fate. The research is well documented, and the quilt theme is a unique strand that will eventually pull all three books and sisters together. A good, solid addition where historical fiction is in demand.
Beth Tegart, Oneida City Schools, NY
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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