Scattergood

Bowman, H.M. Scattergood.

January 21, 2025 by Neal Porter Books 

Ohio Digital Library Copy

Peggy is having a difficult time in 1941 in West Branch, Iowa. She's not quite thirteen, so her older cousin Ida Jean treats her like a baby, even though Peggy is a year ahead in school because she is talented, especially in math. Another cousin, Delia, is about the same age. She is very poorly because she has leukemia. Peggy has to research what this is because the adults aren't very forthcoming; they have told Peggy that she is anemic, and will get better, although the doctors think she has only six months to live. Peggy is determined to find a cure, going to the public library and reading articles that she painstakingly copies out and gives to her aunt. She's also enthralled by a Jewish refugee, Gunther, who is a few years older than she is. Gunther lives at Scattergood, a Quaker community that is housing a number of refugees, including a professor who has lost most of his family and takes comfort in teaching Peggy chess. A local boy, Joe, is equally enamoured of Peggy. Against the backdrop of the historical times, teenage mistakes are made, family secrets are revealed, and Peggy has to find her way forward. 

Strengths: This had a very classic feel to it, like Hunt's Up a Road Slowly, Enright's Thimble Summer, or McCuller's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. The summer heat and the quiet of the Iowa countryside were so well described that I felt like I was with Peggy on her miles long walks to get to the library or Scattergood. The way Delia's cancer was handled was very true to the time period. I appreciated that this was an upper middle grade/young adult book, with some romantic longing and chafing at family restrictions. I would have loved this book when I was in middle school. 
Weaknesses: This was a bit long and introspective, and WWII books set on the home front are not as popular with my students as I would like them to be. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed historical novels like Bundy's Pixie Pushes On or Buzzeo's Light Comes to Shadow Mountain, or for teachers and librarians who really want to recommend Greene's The Summer of My German Soldier to students but can't locate a copy of this beloved 1974 title. The midcentury Grant Wood-esque paperback cover is intriguing.