Sara Barnett

Suddenly orphaned by the Spanish flu epidemic in the fall of 1918, eleven-year-old Lydia Pierce and her fourteen-year-old brother, Daniel, of Portland, Maine, are taken by their uncle to be raised in the Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake. Thrust into the Shakers' unfamiliar way of life, Lydia must grapple with a new world that is nothing like the one she used to know.

Now separated from her beloved brother, for men and women do not mix in this community, Lydia must adjust to many changes. But in time, and with her courageous spirit, she learns to find the joy in life again.… (mehr)

Note: I listened to the audiobook version of this book.

This was an interesting addition to the Dear America series. I appreciated the historical insight into the Shakers and their way of living. Lydia's point of view was also interesting and unique. However, I did find some parts of this one to be rather unrealistic, such as how Lydia moved on so quickly from her parents' and little sister's deaths, a clearly traumatizing event. The Shakers didn't do anything to help her and her brother cope and find closure, either. I understand that Lydia was always energetic and had a quite bright spirit might have thus been able to heal from her grief on her own, but if she was bright, then her brother was the polar opposite. And yet nothing was done address either of their wounds. In the end, the parents' deaths seemed little more than a plot point in the story because Lydia needed to become an orphan and come to live with the Shakers for story to begin.

This review by J.D. Staton provides further insight into a few other problems with the story. While reading, I didn't think Like the Willow Tree was a bad story. However, after further thought, I've lowered my rating from 4 stars to 3 stars. Some caution should be taken if one is giving this story to a young reader (see Staton's review), and of course, discernment should always be used for any book that you read anyway.… (mehr)